Best practices for hot listings is something all agents should have in their toolbox. I believe before listing a home you should have a plan in place, with the seller's, as to what the plan of action will be to ensure the sellers maximize their gain. Each market, seller and each home would likely have a different protocol.
Austin real estate has been roaring for the past couple of years with no end in sight. Not every neighborhood, or every home, is receiving multiple offers. However, there are some homes, in highly desireable neighborhoods, where multiple offers are to be expected. Especially when the home is affordable and in good condition.
Listing agents represent the sellers fiduciary interests. If you have numerous buyers for a property... the mangement of multiple offers is key. It's not an easy task.... you don't want to scare off a buyer who doesn't want to compete. You don't want a buyer to feel like you are playing games.
If you had a new listing on Friday morning... and by Saturday night had 3 solid offers... and potentially more coming.... what would you advise your seller to do?
Would you advise them to choose the best of the 3? After all, they are good offers.
Would you wait until the property has had a reasonable exposure to the market before accepting an offer? Perhaps at least an entire weekend?
Would you contact each and every buyers agent to see what the response was to the home?
Would you ask for best and final offers by a key date?
Seller's sometimes feel greedy when they get multiple offers and are quick to just want to pick one and be done with it. I think counseling them ahead of time, as to the legitimacy of a procedure and the fairness of a process, can help alleviate this emotion. In the end, they are the boss. However, don't let that remove your professional duty to counsel them on options that will protect their interests.
After all, isn't it our job to remove the emotional aspects so that our clients can make good financial decisions? I say counsel them ahead of time, have a plan in place, and help alleviate the stress.
What are your best practices for hot listings?
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