(Stepping up on soap box)
So, I am watching HGTV over the weekend (my wife is absolutely addicted to this channel) and I walk in to catch this agent sitting down with a potential seller at lunch. It's all cute and quaint as they sit in this open cafe with the sun shining down only shaded briefly by the overhanging trees that dot the landscape. As this "team" of agents sits down with the seller they begin to tell her that given all the information and comparisons in her neighborhood this team had arrived at a listing price of $495,000.
The seller then tells these ladies that she had budgeted a sales price of NETTING $525,000 (by my estimations, this would be a listing price of approx. $560,000+) to give her money to put toward the home she wished to purchase. Her reasoning for listing higher? "I hope that someone comes in and just falls in love with it" (Mind you, this home is a 2 story colonial, on a busy street, complete with PINK, PURPLE and GREEN rooms...)
My wife's response was, "Well, lets see what her house looks like." My response was to scream at the television, "WALK AWAY AGENTS. THIS SELLER ISN'T GROUNDED IN REALITY!!!" To my absolute shock, these agents look at each other and...AGREE TO LIST THE HOUSE AT HER PRICE! Are you kidding me? Now, I am completely glued to the television so that I can watch as this trainwreck unfolds. After the commercial break, the film crew is riding along with this agent and her comment was, "I really hope we can get a good Broker's Open today. Maybe some agent will walk in for the free food and then remember, "I have a buyer that might like this house." She went on to say that she hopes it sells in a couple of weeks, otherwise the seller will pull the listing and just stay in the house. Really?
Fast forward, the agent team pays for catering and holds what appears to be a smaller turnout than they expected and the show ended with the seller staying in the house.
WHY oh WHY would an agent do this to themselves. First, let a seller tell them that they HAVE to sell the house for more than what it's worth KNOWING that it wouldn't sell they still take the listing and on top of that, they're given a window of a couple of weeks to sell.
I just don't get it. Would anyone here take a listing KNOWING they have a tiny or no chance of selling a property just to have a listing? Am I missing something? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I just can't see footing that much up front money for a listing that has a sales price, listing window and terms set soley by the seller. Don't we owe more to our profession to bring people to reality?
(steps off of soap box)
Thank you.
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