QUESTION: I think my house is worth a lot more than my agent's suggested listing price. What do I do?
ANSWER: Listen to your agent! And here are some of the reasons you should heed his advice. First of all, he is experienced and successful or else you wouldn't be using him. Secondly, you are understandably emotionally involved in your family home, where your agent, on the other hand, is totally objective. (buyers aren't buying your memories, they want to create their own) By being objective, your Realtor has searched the multiple listing system for comparable homes that have sold within the last year to see what buyers are actually willing to pay. Also, he has searched the multiple listing system for similar homes for sale to see wthe competition for the buyers' money....why should someone purchase your home instead of the one down the street? And most importantly, he has factored in the declining market. The house like yours that sold just six months ago, if for sale today would be overpriced. For example: Our local market is declining at the rate of about .67% per month - and from the national news, it is going to continue for a while longer - so if a house was put into escrow at $200,000 one year ago and closed 60 days later, at the time of closing it was already overpriced and 10 months later at the time of your market analysis it is now worth only $184,000. YIKES! This is not meant to discourage sellers, but hopefully to make them more aware of the realities of the market place. If you are truly sincere about selling your home, price it to sell, not sit and chase the market down, because other agents won't show overpriced homes and lenders certainly won't lend on them.
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