Vent….
So I list a house with a realtor. The house is 3 hours away from me so I can’t really sell it my self. The realtor has a great reputation for getting houses sold fast blah blah blah...
So I list it....@ 7%! She assures me she can get it sold for price X because she is the BEST and it’s a great house and it will sell for that much! I think GREAT! I don’t mind paying the 7% because she has great references and she says that 7% is the norm for the area etc... Ill still make a LOAD of money off this deal.
So she calls today and says that we will probably have to lower the price by 20k because she made a mistake.....sigh I should know better.
If she assured you about the price and she determined the price on her own, then I would fire her immediately and get another agent. I'm sure there are agents out there who would be willing to be honest and up front with you.
However, I have a friend who is an agent and he tells me that a lot of times he advises his clients to list their house at a certain price and they insist that the house is worth more and want to list it at the higher price. If that was the case here, then maybe you shouldn't blame her for telling you what you wnated to hear.
Good Luck.
JS
Get the house appraised. Study the appraisal and the comps, then set your asking price.
As far as the realtor goes if she deceived you to get the listing fire her.[ Edited by pspiers on Date 04/22/2004 ]
Another story of the realtor blues. I have read many posts including my own about inept realtors. I think the world is full of them I am sure some are great. However in my area I have noticed you they seem like a big licensed team out to do as many shady deals as possible.
I live with a Realtor and it is great having one on your team I can’t see how people do it without one. If you can network with one they will be a big help but you still have to learn to get around the others.
I have a new philosophy I just don’t play by their rules if they say you can’t talk to the seller that is exactly what I do. I have caught them lying and not submitting my offers while waiting on one of their own to come through. I am officially an auto sales manager for a big auto group and I cannot remember a time when auto dealers got away with half the tactics realtors do.
Checkout my post on shady realtor tactics
I hope I have not offended any realtors on this board. I don’t feel like if you are here you are one of the ones I am typing about.
If you are a serious investor you need to know how to value your own property. Many valuation systems are available for study you should check them out.
Quote:
On 2004-04-22 20:25, kensinvest wrote:
Another story of the realtor blues. I have read many posts including my own about inept realtors. I think the world is full of them I am sure some are great. However in my area I have noticed you they seem like a big licensed team out to do as many shady deals as possible.
I live with a Realtor and it is great having one on your team I can’t see how people do it without one. If you can network with one they will be a big help but you still have to learn to get around the others.
I have a new philosophy I just don’t play by their rules if they say you can’t talk to the seller that is exactly what I do. I have caught them lying and not submitting my offers while waiting on one of their own to come through. I am officially an auto sales manager for a big auto group and I cannot remember a time when auto dealers got away with half the tactics realtors do.
Checkout my post on shady realtor tactics
I hope I have not offended any realtors on this board. I don’t feel like if you are here you are one of the ones I am typing about.
If you are a serious investor you need to know how to value your own property. Many valuation systems are available for study you should check them out.
I'm a Realtor and I'm not offended. Not all Realtors are bad though. You're Realtor should have been honest. She's giving us all a bad name.
If you think lowering the price by 20k will still be a fair price for the house, tell the agent to go ahead. But also tell her that you want to amend your contract with her from 7% to 6% because you also "made a mistake".
Good luck.
If she is the best realtor in town and she made a $20k mistake, what makes you think she won't make even more mistakes? She is baiting and switching, and her excuse of "I made a mistake" is a really sad attempt as a cover for herself.
Another possibility you might want to consider is using temporary owner financing to sell your property, where you can cut out the full 7% realtor percentage, and offer a buyer's agent 3% when they bring a buyer. You can take one trip up to your property and stick a FSBO sign out front, and do your own advertising. I think for $250 you can get an MLS listing, if you want to, but by advertising in the appropriate publications "Owner Will Finance" and put down all amenities, your phone will start ringing a bunch.
Then the process goes like this:
* Pre-screen the buyers with a list of intake questions
* Pool the list of "good buyers" and send to a bunch of realtor's offices saying "need buyer's agent to show these buyers my property"
* Have the property shown
* Once one of the good buyers indicates they want to move ahead, a note broker who works directly with note buyers will help them get a 1003 loan app filled out, and their credit profile will be evaluated
* If the value, collateral and credit profile of buyer all check out, you are issued a written purchase agreement for the 1st lien note, to be bough at closing via simultaneous close
* At close, you carryback paper in one event, and then sell the note later in the closing
* Done deal
There is a discount in the purchase price based on the face value of the note. With single family owner occupied property it can range from 85-93% depending on the variables listed above and others.
Everything is done to minimize the discount taken, as note brokers and note buyers understand the seller's wants, especially as an investor.
Hope this helps. Dave
I have no idea why she suggested that we lower the price. Last night I spent a lot of time running searches and running comps for the area the house is selling in.
The original price that the realtor suggested we list the house at is 2 or 3 dollars less per sq ft than the neighborhood avg.
Who knows maybe she had a buyer on the line that she knew would pay the 20k less price and tried to pull a fast one on me.
Anyhow it's listed at the price I want. I'm going to keep a close on eye on the actions of my salesperson for a few weeks to see what happens.....
Goose_Man,
The general rule when picking a real estate listing agent is to interview three agents who have demonstrated success in the neighborhood. Ask each agent to present listings of recently sold properties similar to yours, and the number of days each was on the market.
Then ask each agent at what price he/she would list your property. If the price is significantly lower than the average recently sold properties, then the agent should justify the lower figure. If the price is a lot higher, then the agent either sees some remarkable feature about your property to add so much value or (more likely) the agent is just trying to get your listing. In either case ask the agent to justify how the proposed list price was determined.
Ask each agent how they plan to market your property for sale. Marketing tactics might include open houses (one for the real estate agents, others for the public), newspaper advertisements, MLS listing, internet promotion, and targeted mailings. If the agent's marketing plan is not well presented, and seems offhand or disorganized, then the agent may be disorganized also (at least unprepared for this presentation).
Remember, in a large metropolitan market, a listing agent only sells about 5% of his own listings. That means that 95% percent of the time, a buyer will be brought to the table by some other real estate agent. You don't want to get stuck with an agent who is just playing the numbers game, gets your listing then waits for someone else to sell your property.
Going on the assumption that a property that is fairly priced should sell within 90 days, don't sign a listing agreement for longer than 90 days. If it is fairly priced, and your agent does not get it sold, you may want to hire another agent instead.