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The real estate profession is extremely competitive, and listings are hard to get. This leads many agents to attempt to "buy listings" by promising a seller that they can get a higher price for them than what other agents tell them, hoping to get the listing, then gets the seller to reduce their price to a realistic level later. A seller that lists under these conditions runs all the risks associated with overpriced listings, and will probably get disgusted with realtors as a whole and their realtor in particular. Remember that pricing your property is not a "bidding war" between realtors, and that the realtor is not the buyer.
Any real estate professional that provides a reasoned evaluation of the market value of your property, high or low, must be able to back up their opinions with hard data, or you should be suspicious. The best realtors don't play the game of trying to buy listings. If however, we make our best evaluation, and still are unable to get your house sold within a reasonable period of time, and you are satisfied that we are doing a good, thorough job of marketing your property and keeping you informed, then the solution is not changing realtors, but lowering your price.
If you have made a number of expensive improvements to your property, you may not be able to realize all, or even part of your improvement costs in the sale of your house. The neighbourhood is more important than improvements, and frequently homeowners improve their home to the point that it is much nicer than those around it. Lots of prospective purchasers will drive by your property, and if it is high priced compared to the rest of the neighbourhood, they will never ask to see the inside of your house. The best home in the neighbourhood may not bring a significantly higher price than those around it, but it will sell much quicker at a competitive price. However, improvements made to a house that is initially less desirable and expensive than others in its neighbourhood may significantly increase its sale price, even more than the cost of the improvements in some cases.
Many houses are sold on contingencies, frequently involving the prior sale of another house somewhere else. If you need to sell your house in order to buy another, proper pricing is even more critical. You will have a built in time limit, and if your house doesn't sell within that time, you will lose the house you want to buy, will frequently lose appraisal costs, credit fees and other loan fees, and possibly some earnest money as well. What you think you need to realize from the sale of your house really is less critical than a quick sale, because you may not be able to make it work with slightly less proceeds, but you probably can't make anything work if your first house doesn't sell!
Whatever your ultimate intentions, you must ask yourself as objectively as possible what your time line really is, and plan accordingly. A house that is for sale can cause a lot of stress and anxiety. A house that sells quickly causes peace of mind, security and allows you to realistically plan for the future. Approach selling your home with as little emotion as possible and try to give it a hard look as a buyer would. Take a big dose of realty when you price it, and you will do fine. Do you want to have your house "for sale", or do you want to have it "SOLD"? The choice is yours.
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Copyright ©2009 Peter Kunz. All rights reserved. |
Royal LePage Partners Realty is an independently owned and operated brokerage. |
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