My Agent Keeps Telling Me To Reduce My Price … Can’t She Sell Anything?

Your Agent is continually talking to you about lowering your price because the market keeps dropping and your home clearly hasn’t sold. Quit the ostrich act! It isn’t your Agent that is necessitating the downward price adjustment - it takes a willing Buyer and a willing Seller to make market value. When there are many listings and few Buyers, the market value declines … supply and demand. It isn’t your Agent’s lack of selling skills or incompetence (we hope) that are causing your home not to sell if it isn’t priced right for what you are offering.

Agents don’t make the market … but the good ones monitor the variables closely to enable you to stay current in the market such as: interest rates; the economy – local, regional, National… even Global today; the inventory – existing and new product coming on line, the overall Market activity, Buyer demographics; other investment opportunities or vogues; changing area amenities, i.e.- increase in medical services in the community; and many more.

When the market runs up some Agents don’t have their Sellers make adjustments. When the property sells the Seller doesn’t know how much was truly left on the table. When the market drops it is evident to all if a property isn’t priced right – the property sits on the market … and sits…and sits. Properties that are priced right are for the most part selling. The price is up to you, the Seller, and what a Buyer is willing to pay for what you have.

Buyers today want a great buy … your Agent can’t control that. She can tell them how your home stacks up in the Market, but she can’t prevent the “lowball” offer that so offends you. She can tell them why your home is priced so well, but she can’t overcome their “media paralysis”, their fear to act because of what others have told them they should fear. Some are so afraid by what they see and hear that you could give them your home and they’d be afraid of “the catch”.

Our Advice: Your Agent cannot overcome the collective consciousness of our society which today is in such a panic that many people have simply put their lives on hold. She can, however, be realistic, positive, energetic, and attentive to your needs as she approaches her fiduciary duties daily to get your home sold by finding the good smart Buyers that are out there today taking action. Good agents can help you save, or make, money by helping you make good decisions. That can be interpreted for some Sellers as minimizing their ultimate loss. It shouldn’t be a test of wills between you and your Agent – you should be working towards a common goal – selling your home for the best possible price in a reasonable time and protecting you from problems.

Money seems to be ready to flow back to real estate from stocks given the great real estate prices, incredible interest rates, and brilliant future of real estate. As the money flows, prices will gain traction and things will turn around. This is now the peak opportunity for Buyers to make their best buys, and for Sellers to maintain their optimism about their home selling. Enjoy it – these are the Good Old Days! When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs… Experience is Priceless! Lisa Wetzel & Jim Valentine, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, 775-781- 5472. carsonvalleyland@hotmail.com, www.carsonvalleyland.com

An Agent Told Us She Had a Buyer So We Listed Our Home With her … We’ve Never Seen The Buyer!

We recently received a call from a property owner in our community who had an unpleasant situation occur with another local agent. The agent told the property owners that she had a buyer for their property but needed to have a listing to protect herself before she actually showed the home to the potential purchaser.

Our response … You are likely the victim of one of real estate’s oldest and cheapest tricks. An unscrupulous agent will use this ploy to get you to list your property. An agent with a serious Buyer that has an interest in your home will either have a Buyer’s Broker Agreement with the Buyer, or will ask you for a One Party Listing for protection, but an extended Exclusive Right to Sell Listing need not, and should not, be a condition precedent for such a showing.

Understand, too, that such a showing does not mean you must list with that agent. You should evaluate your listing agent in the conventional manner – considering their production, the type of property you have and the type of property the agents sell, the agents’ willingness to provide customer references from recent transactions, how you generally feel about the agents and their business morals, values and practices, and these days … are they full time agents?

Another old trick is to list at a high price, higher than all the other agents said they could get you, and then beat you up week after week for a price reduction. Between their incessant pressure, the lapse of time from the listing date with no offers, and your increasing frustration and motivation to sell, you will begrudgingly accede to the reality of the market value of your home and reduce your price by either a listing price reduction or accepting a lower offer. In the interim you lose time and experience unnecessary frustration. You are truly a victim in this situation and you’ll never know it.

Our Advice: This is a challenging market that needs competent professional services from professional real estate agents, not cheap trickery. With many Sellers under pressure to sell, these unbelievable gutter tricks have resurfaced lately.

One agent recently called the Sellers of a property that we have listed … properly listed with a sign, with brochures, in MLS, in our ad, and has been on the MLS tour! … and told them she had a Buyer for their home but needed a listing. She was actually so bold as to leave a message on the Seller’s work phone at his office. The seller called her back, reminded her it was listed, and even offered to pay her a bonus to bring her “Buyer” to boot! He asked her to call us and arrange a showing … we are still (two weeks later) waiting for the call.

If its time for you to sell be sure you work with one of the many great professional agents in the area, not one using old “tricks”. If they trick you now to get your listing for their benefit … what do you think they’ll do when it comes time to sign a sales agreement … when it’s your money on the line?! We believe they’ll “trick” you then too, not always considering your interest in the consequences of your selling decisions, rather only thinking of their gain in the situation. Most agents will treat you courteously and professionally, but it is important to be aware of the predators and their ploys – “forewarned is forearmed”.

An agent approaching you with a Buyer – whether you are a FSBO, or it is unsolicited – can be a good thing. Pay attention to their approach and the representation of the parties. Are you being properly represented? It can and should be just fine – just be aware. When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs … Experience is Priceless! Lisa Wetzel & Jim Valentine, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, 775-781- 5472. carsonvalleyland@hotmail.com, www.carsonvalleyland.com