Is This What Happened to You? 

Meeting With Realtors

So you decided to sell your home and had a fairly good idea of what you thought it was worth. Being a sensible home seller, you scheduled appointments with three local listing agents who had been hanging stuff on your front doorknob for years. Each Realtor came prepared with a "Competitive Market Analysis" on fancy paper and they each recommended a specific sales price.

Amazingly, a couple of the Realtors came up with prices that were lower than you expected. Although they backed up their recommendations with recent sales data of similar homes, you remained convinced your house is worth more. When you interviewed the third agent’s figures, they were much more in line with your own anticipated value, or maybe even higher. Suddenly, you were a happy and excited home seller, already counting the money.

Which Realtor did you choose?

If you’re like many people, you picked Realtor number three. This is an agent who seems willing to listen to your input and work with you. This is an agent that cares about putting the most money in your pocket. This is an agent that is willing to start out at your price and if you need to drop the price later, you can do that easily, right? After all, everyone else does it!

The truth is that you may have just met an agent engaging in a questionable sales practice called "buying a listing." He "bought" the listing by suggesting you might be able to get a higher sales price than the other agents recommended. Most likely, he is quite doubtful that your home will actually sell at that price. The intention from the beginning is to eventually talk you into lowering the price.

Why do agents "buy" listings? There are basically two reasons. A well-meaning and hard working agent can feel pressure from a homeowner who has an inflated perception of his home’s value. On the other hand, there are some agents who engage in this sales practice routinely.

Dropping Your Price...Too Late

If you and your agent have overpriced, fewer agents will preview your home. After all, they are Realtors, and it is their job to know local market conditions and home values. If your house is dramatically above market, why waste time? Their time is better spent previewing homes that are priced realistically.

Later, when you drop your price, your house is "old news." You will never be able to recapture that flurry of initial activity you would have had with a realistic price. Your house could take longer to sell.

Even if you do successfully sell at an above market price, your buyer will need a mortgage. The mortgage lender requires an appraisal. If comparable sales for the last six months and current market conditions do not support your sales price, the house won’t appraise. Your deal falls apart. Of course, you can always attempt to renegotiate the price, but only if the buyer is willing to listen. Your house could go "back on the market."

Once your home has fallen out of escrow or sits on the market awhile, it is harder to get a good offer. Potential buyers will think you might be getting desperate, so they will make lower offers. By overpricing your home in the beginning, you could actually end up settling for a lower price than you would have normally received.

Choices...

Once the listing has expired, you have a choice to make: Stick with the REALTOR that wasn't marketing your home properly, or list with one who will get your house SOLD!  Are you going to continue with the agent that "bought" your listing, or begin working with someone who will honestly tell you what your house is worth?  You should ask yourself what your current agent really did for you.  Did your agent aggresively market your home?  Did your agent email every single agent in the city about your home?  Did your agent hold the house open and announce it to the neighborhood?  Did your agent really have the knowledge and expertise necessary to sell a house in the Austin market quickly?  We do!  We have the knowledge, the inginuity, and the drive to sell your house quickly.  Call us today (512-917-1004) or email us (Info@fierroproperties.com)  to get your house back on the market and SOLD!