I think that clean and uncluttered is good in any market ! If you need a realtor to say that, then thatâs a great thing!
My bil just sold his cottage. He had one realtor who was $400,000 lower than the other. The first realtor wanted a bidding war. Well they had a bidding war and went up $100,000 during the listing period.
In the end, the house needed to be appraised not much above comps. Because most buyers still need a mortgage, at least here in the Midwest.
And Ohio will never be comparable to the Bay Area.
I go back to your comment about the one agent selling a lot of homes and knows your neighborhood well- sounds like she should stay on your list, as I have found realtors that seem to be aligned to certain areas may already have leads with buyers looking in your specific area.
If you feel bad letting one or more down - a note and a small starbucks gift card is nice It is business and they should understand.
It is not that much different than getting bids from different contractors. Realtors are well aware that they may or may not get the listing and do not take it personally. Any realtor who gets upset over losing a listing chose a wrong profession!
I think in a hot market, like the one today, you want to hire the realtor with the lowest fee. I am seeing many houses in my neighborhood selling with budget realtors (Redfin, purplebricks, etc.) Why pay 3% commision when you can pay 1% commision in this hot market with everything is selling in days anyway?
Also, do the least you have to, clean and remove clutter. In a hot market you may not even need to paint.
I think that all of the realtors do the same market comparisons when giving you pricing advice. The look at comps in the area for the last few months. The budget realtor will probably give you the same pricing advise.
Lastly, I am not sure you can lowball price in this market. Every price is a lowball one when people are bidding up crazy amounts like 50%
I wouldnât feel too bad: the US Justice Departmentâs Antitrust Division is suing the National Association of Realtors for allegedly promoting collusive practice by realtors in relation to things like commissions, the MLS, etc to the detriment of individual buyers and sellers.
The case was supposed to be settled late last year. However, quite extraordinarily and probably because of the change in administration and the new US AG, the DoJ announced just a few days ago it was abandoning the settlement and continuing to sue the NAR. The complaint has been withdrawn, but Justice has reserved the right to refile (i.e., âwithdrawal without prejudiceâ).
Fully appreciating these are just allegations, the net point is that Justice is effectively saying that independent realtors actually arenât independent because of these practices that distort the real estate market to the detriment of clients.
I am in no way casting aspersions on the profession. Personally, weâve been hugely fortunate in our last couple of transactions by agents who completely delivered beyond our wildest dreams. But, the Justice Departmentâs allegations are extremely serious and claim that the system is rigged to a degree.
Do as much homework as you can about the selling conditions using comps and demonstrate to your candidate agents that you know exactly what you (and they) are doing. As one other poster mentioned, donât get sucked into the âvolume vortexâ where the agent you pick wants to make a quick sale and move on to the next one, not getting the best price for you. That is the only thing that matters.
Bingo. That is exactly what two realtors recommended when I sold the parentsâ house in the Bay Area. They suggested that house should sell for xx, but recommend listing for a price of xx- in the hopes that will get more buyers in the door to bid it up over xx.
Thatâs what a realtor just told my dad. The list price is obscenely high but he said thatâs a little underpriced and it will go for more. Yikes. I feel sorry for young people starting out.
Question for the more experiencedâmy sister just sold her house (needs to move, no money long story). I thought she should wait for a bidding war but she sold to the first buyerâs second offer, which was very slightly below asking price. Realtor told her that 1) they had priced high to start and 2) if appraisal comes in much lower, the buyer may not get their mortgage approved. Is the latter true? This is in a rural areaâhousing shortage as everywhere, but less heated and people with less money overall.
Yes thatâs unfortunately true about the appraisal and mortgage. But, your sister could then agree to sell for the bank appraised price, or the buyers could potential pay the difference in cash to lower what they are financing if there is no inventory (but the later would be rare).
We worried about that when we sold my parentsâ condo last year because the prices were crazy high and there were very few comps at those prices. Thankfully our buyers ended up paying cash. (We turned down a higher offer that would have required a mortgage).
True, but there is a backup with appraisers. They didnât even come by to see my parentâs house, just approved the (IMO) too high sale price. Good as the seller; risky for a buyer if they donât have the cash to cover a future loss.
Thatâs a good point! We re-financed our house a few months ago and the appraiser spent less than 5 minutes walking through the house because they are so busy. He told H that he could have appraised it sight unseen based on the neighborhood and square footage alone.
Bank appraisals are tricky. The appraisers can only use sold comparable homes. In a hot market they are using comparable sales that could be 5% lower than current market values because the comparable properties closed escrow 5 months ago (which represents a sale price over 6 months old)
In this hot market it is important to review buyerâs terms. If buyer is getting a mortgage, their downpayment and closing cost cash might be tight. If the bankâs appraiser comes in low, the buyer has to make up the difference between what bank will lend and what they are paying. They can cancel contract, pay difference or ask seller to lower price to appraisal amount which is based on older sales.
Not a good situation for Seller. But I feel sorry for buyers out there who are depending on a loan trying to compete in this market
My advice is drive your neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods to find the realtors on signs that do the most business in the area. Invite one of them to audition for your property also.
Garland, this is true- but appraising is an art and not a science. The selling price would have to be outrageously high vs. the comps for this to come into play. And if it sold quickly itâs likely that the price the buyers offered is reasonably close to the âtrue valueâ of the house.
Thatâs a truism. First, not all appraisers are equal and not all comps are equal. There are eclectic and/or custom or semi-custom homes type neighborhoods and then there are homogenous and/or neighborhoods with very similar type homes (e.g. developments).
If I had to speculate about the market right now, with inflation hitting a recent high, weâve reached a point in the market where the comps will probably support the sale, but obviously not in all cases, especially in a neighborhood with a wide assortment of homes where comps become difficult.
I agree with @blossom that you shouldnât worry about it. Buyers and sellers can always strike a deal or compromise too depending on current market activity.
The stories above of appraisers not spending any time or 5 minutes in evaluating homes for sales contracts is a little worrisome. That sounds very much like the 2007-2008 market crash. I thought banks updated and tightened up their underwriting guidelines to make appraisers actually work for living.
I signed a contract with a realtor on my dadâs behalf in December, 2019, when he was so ill. My sister and I werenât really happy with her. She had basic facts in the listing incorrect, such as the year the house was built and the number of bedrooms. Mistakes happen, but she didnât correct them when my sister alerted her to the errors. We ended up taking the house off the market due to COVID. When Dad recovered, we all agreed we would change realtors in December, 2020. Of course the realtor was a family friend, ugh. She was very unhappy when Dad told her he wouldnât be using her. She said, âMaybe I can be a co-realtor with the person you select so that I recoup some of the money I spent marketing your house last year.â Uh, noâŠ
Dadâs house has almost doubled in value since December, 2019, so the new realtor should do well.
My sister resent her the email which listed the errors and other questions weâd had the year before. That seemed to satisfy her so I think everything is OK now. I will never hire a friend to be a realtor!
Iâve never understood seller resistance to de-cluttering before putting your house on the market. I mean, it HAS to be done before you move, right? Itâs not like there is any upside to having a cluttered house for showings, even in a market that favors the seller. I can imagine this is frustrating for you.
Houses here (SE PA) are selling crazy fast. Most set a deadline and then choose among many offers, picking the ones with no contingencies. My friends bought an old historic house and WAIVED inspections because it was the only way to get a house.
We will be listing our house and I donât think we are going to do anything to it. Not even paint. We have redone the exterior and flooring over the past couple of years so it should show okay once we declutter everything.
In the Bay Area, for almost anything in a remotely desirable area, the buyer waives all contingencies. Thatâs been the practice for years. If you put any contingency as a buyer, you would not get the house. I found it to be utter insanity to buy a house without our own inspection (although, most sellers had their inspection report as part of the seller package).
In fact, as buyers, we had to write letters to the sellers to beg them to sell to us. That was truly humiliating; but, apparently, it was what we had to do.
I guess all this prepares our family well for the fun and games of the college admissions process!
Seriously, though, I donât understand where all the cash is coming from to fuel this home-buying frenzy at these extraordinary prices all over the US. I can understand that the pandemic makes single-family homes more attractive; but, where was all this cash for years? Iâve heard that some investment management firms are also buying up homes, and thatâs helping to spike the prices.
If it were me, unless the home is a âbuilder/developer specialâ aka a âscraper,â then Iâd sink a little money into the property refreshing it with new paint, carpets, refinishing the floors, landscaping, etc.
At least around here in the areas of Northern California that Iâm familiar with, buyers will compete harder and pay a higher premium for bright, tastefully decorated, move-in ready properties.
! If you need a realtor to say that, then thatâs a great thing!
It is business and they should understand.