My husband and I will be putting our house on the market soon. However, we want to be sure that we are listing the house at a price that is fair and reasonable but will also get us the biggest profit. We have already decided on the agent with whom we will list the house. However, he is new to the business and I am concerned that the listing price he is suggesting is too low. I want to price this home to sell quickly without giving it away.
Is it ethical/acceptable for me to call other agents and request that they look at the house? I am not sure if I should do it because I know that I will not be listing the home with any of the agents that I call. I’m also worried that if I tell the agent that I am really only interested in his/her opinion on a list price, that he/she will give me some ridiculously high number in hopes that I will list the home with him/her.
I’ve seen this done on the show “Property Ladder” (i.e., multiple agents go through the home and tell the owner what the list price should be) but I do not know the exact circumstances under which they are asked to look at the home (i.e., they may just want to be on TV or maybe the owner really is shopping for an agent).
Your agent should have done a comparative market analysis. This would show what houses similar to yours (in your area, similar size and age, similar amenities and construction) have sold for recently. Did he not?
Does this agent belong to an established, well regarded agency? Very often pricing decisions will be reveiwed by other more experienced agents.
It sounds as if you are throwing the business to a relative or a friend starting out in the business. This is a mistake. Get someone with experience. Having said this, there is no problem with getting other agencies to come up with a price. Ask to see their report. Question them. What houses did they use as comparables? How long ago were they sold? You can also elect to get an independent appraisor to come up with a number, although this will cost you a few bucks.
Have you looked at Zillow ? Mind you, I would not price a home from Zillow alone, but it can be a good source of information.
I am not a realtor, just someone who recently sold a house. I think you have a few options that don’t involve asking other agents to perform work for you for free.
Go ahead and list the house at the price you think is reasonable.
The number of resultant showings / offers should let you know whether that price is realistic for your house in your marketplace. Generally (and very much depending on typical turnaround times in your market), if you haven’t received an offer in two weeks at the list price, lower that price by anywhere from $3K - 10K and stand by it for another two weeks. Repeat until you get an offer.
Check out sites like realtor.com.
This allows you to look for comparable homes in your area to see what their asking prices are, and how long they’ve been listed. Your agent should go over this information with you anyway, but it’s nice to give yourself a view of your market that isn’t filtered by your agent. Keep in mind that “location, location, location” really IS the thing, and that the site can’t really give you a clear sense of the other houses’ condition and history.
Decide on the lowest bid you would accept now.
If the list price your agent is suggesting is higher than the lowest bid you’d accept – and keeping in mind that all offers made will inevitably low-ball – consider listing it at that price anyway. It will probably shave time off the total list time. On the other hand, if you have lots of time before you need the house to sell, aim for a higher price, but still let your agent know the lowest you will go to. A good agent will work with you throughout to agree on how to best price your house.
Good luck! It can be a long and frustrating process.
Columnist Robert Bruss strongly encourages anyone thinking of selling to interview at least 3 local realtors before committing to any one of them. One recent column. If you’re not sure of the valuation of the person you’re thinking of using, it’d be shortsighted not to interview others.
Other questions you should ask include how they’re thinking of marketing the house, what the local market is like, what sort of things you may wish to do to make the place “show” better…
Why are you so sure you won’t list with one of the other agents? What if they tell you things that are totally at odds with the guy you’re planning on using? Say, your house is really worth 50K more than he’s suggesting? The other posters mention the market analysis - hs this fellow done that?
We only interviewed 2 agents when we sold 5 years ago (well technically 3, 2 of them worked as a team). They both told me pretty similar things about the local market and valuation and marketing. Both were experienced agents, though both had more junior people working on their teams which was fine with us. We wound up going with the guy who was a) offering a lower commission on the sale half (crazy market, and we would be using them to buy as well), b) no “junk fees” to the brokerage, c) the lead broker at his firm, and d) the husband of a good friend (we joked that we knew he’d take good care of us because we knew where he lived).
When my parents sold their house, we invited 3 estate agents (UK realtors) to visit.
Their recommended prices were £270,000 / £275,000 / £275,000 ($540,000 / $550,000 / $550,000).
Since the valuations were so close, my parents simply chose the one who appealed to them most.
Why would you pick an inexperienced realtor?
This is a huge financial transaction.
I really recommend that you read the chapter about realtors in Freakonomics, it’s a really good book. It looks at how realtors end up earning more money when they sell their houses than when they sell yours. There are a lot of tips, a few examples.
Words like incredible, cozy, well-maintained and nice-neighborhood don’t really do as well because they make it seem as if the house has no specific features that can be pointed out. That’s to say that it’s an average house.
Descriptive words like State-of-the-Art, Marble, Maple and Mahogany are good words. In most contexts, Marble really makes one conjour images of value.
Your location doesn’t say where you live, so it’s a little bit difficult to be fully helpful. Depending on where you live, you may be able to hire a professional appraiser. This is a person you can hire whose profession it is to give an evaluation of the value of your home. Here, for example, is the link to the home page of the British Columbia Association of the Appraisal Institute of Canada. The links, including the FAQ provide some more information on the services available.