Do Home Sellers Want to Hear the Truth?
On first impulse, most homeowners would say that, of course, they want their agents to tell them “the whole truth and nothing but” when it comes to the sale of their home. But do they really? There is a common mistake that home sellers make: choosing a real estate agent based on the price that the agent says they can get for the home. Don’t make this common mistake!
Real estate agents don’t set the sales prices for the homes (although it would be fantastic if we could)…the market (meaning the pool of potential and qualified buyers) does. Instead, seek out a real estate agent who will do their due diligence to study the market in your area – be it the Mills Estates area in Millbrae/Burlingame or Crestmoor in San Bruno – and give you the truth about what would be an optimal price range for your home, whether or not it matches what you need, want or expect.
There is a great article in the San Francisco Chronicle that talks about how falling home prices are a “bitter pill” for homeowners to face as they seek to sell their homes. Now, more than ever, it is important for homeowners to price their home well if they want to make sure to be successful in selling their homes and not just “chase the market”. (For more on the advantages of wise pricing, read Lee Ginsburg’s blog on Pricing Homes to Sell in the Bay Area:http://www.pruvoices.com/2008/11/pricing-homes-to-sell-in-the-bay-area/)
With an agent who is committed to advising you based on the reality of the market (and not just what you want to hear), it IS possible to navigate this market, so that you can sell your home with the best possible results and move on to the next phase of your life. So if you’re planning on selling your home, be sure to find someone who will tell you “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
Link to SF Gate article: “Falling prices a bitter pill for homeowners” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/23/REC4141MVC.DTL
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9 Responses to “Do Home Sellers Want to Hear the Truth?”
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Great Blog, Jean. We all love the home we live in, and it is so hard to be objective sometimes. This is why it is so important to work with an agent that is knowledgeable and will be honest with you.
Burt
http://www.RealEstateBurt.com
Thanks for the post Jean…Over pricing is the biggest mistake a home seller can make. You don’t have a second chance to make a first impression. Sellers have the best chance of netting the most dollars by pricing their home as close as possible to the expected sales price, no matter the market. Smarter pricing means more competition among buyers who perceive a “deal”, and shorter days on market. Greetings from Sonoma county!
Great post, Jean! It is very frustrating for a seller and an agent when a home does not sell. Getting it priced right is SO important. That graph you used in your listing presentation the other day would be really useful in explaining this!
A seller hires a realtor to market and sell their house. It is the realtor’s job to sell the house in the least amount of time, with the leat amount of inconvenence and for the most amount of money. The realtor does not get paid until this mission is accomplished. I’m sure the seller and the realtor both want the same result. Overpricing only hurts the process.
Another great post. I agree with what everyone said here. It is very important for the seller and agent to be on the same page and I do not like it when people are not completely honest with their seller. The truth will come out eventually, why not start with it? Save everyone time and trouble.
Great post, Jean. And so, so darn true in today’s market. Unfortunately so many sellers are stuck in a 2005/2006 market mentality, and many don’t realize that the true market value of their home has almost nothing to do with the seller thinks (or their neighbor, relative, or sister who’s a realtor on the East Coast); rather, its value is what a buyer is willing to pay based on today’s market, today’s competition, today’s financing, economic conditions, the buyer’s perception of the condition, the location, normal marketing time, and showing accessibility. Some sellers out there get it — others plain don’t
Jean, very good post. Seems many seller’s aren’t ready to accept the truth or the comparable data at the Listing Presentation.
But the market establishes the selling price not realtors.
I’ve lost some good listings because I did not tell them what they wanted to hear.
Jean,
Thanks for mentioning my blog. A home is worth more to the homeowner because it meets their needs. If be it a super large gardening area, a bonus room for a business, an in-law for rental income or what ever. Our job is to explain that the general public does not fine that added value. One way could be to take the home seller to other homes for sale in the area and let them see what is out there.
Thanks for all the comments. It’s clear that there are a lot of real estate agents out there who are committed to honesty and integrity, even if it means the possibility of losing some business. If a home is overpriced, it will be the home owners who lose time and very probably money, so we are ultimately looking out for their best interests, as we should be.