Any Other Bids for This Listing? Come On, Agents
This is the hardest thing for sellers to understand. And yet I cannot for the life of me understand why they don't get it. The house is worth what it's worth. You are hiring a marketing expert to help you get it sold!
If you are at the dealership and you ask the salesman how fast can this car go, and you do not like what he tells you, assuming you want a faster car, you need to look for another car, not for another salesperson…
It is true everywhere besides Real Estate?
Our friends retired and decided to move closer to their children in California, so they started thinking of selling their home. It is not that far from us, but not in our area, and we are no experts in their neck of the woods. We know that the market is far from great for the Sellers anywhere in Florida, but they kept indicating a high price for their home, in the $300s. That’s what they have figured. A similar home here in Daytona Beach area could be about $180K.
They are active people, started making appointments, interviewing agents, and they were not particularly happy. I got too involved, which always happens to me, and I offered help. I told them that I know how to find a good agent, and I promised them the best agent there. I did my research and contacted the agent. We had a nice chat, she sure knew business, and I was confident she was an excellent agent for my friends. She then called me and said she had scheduled a visit.
When I called the Sellers to ask how the interview was, they laughed. They said she was just pulling their leg, she did not know crap, and she had the chutzpah to suggest listing it for …$189,900. This was the lowest of all agents. There was one for $369K, the other $316K, and there was someone else suggesting $309,900.
Our friends said that they were considering giving the listing to the agent, who was going to sell for more.
They wanted to make the most from this sale.
I told them that they most probably would end up waiting for couple of months and then the agent would suggest drastically reducing the price.
The friendship got a big dent. They did not call us for a few months and we did not call them. My wife once again demonstrated her excellent abilities to foresee the situation … in the hindsight… I shouldn’t have gotten in the middle… yeah…
Our mutual friend told me that I was wrong when I said that the agent would then come two month later and suggest reducing the price. It happened in two weeks. She did not suggest $189,900, it was less dramatic, but in another 3 weeks she called them again and started explaining about the market. They took it off the market.
And then they called and told me that they wanted to rent it and asked me whether we would help them with the lease.
Of course, we did.
P.S. In Real Estate you do not get what you want to get, but what others are willing to pay for your property.
Do not say “that’s what I have to get”, always ask “What can I get for it in today’s market?”
And if you can, just stay away from some friends. Follow your gut feeling…and listen to what your wife will tell you in a month or so (LOL)
Comments(6)