Selling, found buyer myself, underpriced?

[Maya Robinson]

I would like to sell my house that I have lived in for 13 years. I live in a 1600 unit Co-op in Maryland. I have to get approval from the co-op to sell and that takes awhile. They may also require that I do a considerable amount of work to sell it which could also change the value.

I talked to a realtor to get advice. I didn't sign anything. He thinks I should list for $215,000 because there is a house listed for that currently. I think I should list at at least $235,000 because of  a different comp and i think that it's possible the price  will keep rising through the spring because inventory is tight. My house is a three bedroom end-unit townhouse away from the highway, in good, but not excellent condition. Most of the units are two bedrooms, interior.

Comp A https://www.redfin.com/MD/Greenbelt/73-Ridge-Rd-20770/unit-D...

Comp B https://www.redfin.com/MD/Greenbelt/73-Ridge-Rd-20770/unit-C...

Here is the kicker.  I have a tenant and today I told him that I planned to sell and I was giving him his two month notice. He asked me if he could buy it. The next question is: could he? Yes, I believe so. He is my neighbor who moved in because he is going through a divorce. He has a good job and two kids that have six years left in the neighborhood school. I told him I would tell him the price first before listing it.

In the contract it says that I have to pay the realtor 6%, with 2.5% going to the buyers agent. I'm assuming he would take out the 2.5% because I found the buyer, assuming that goes through, but I'm also worried that he is going to push me to underprice my house. I don't think the trend of real estate prices is going down in my area. I think this particular real estate agent for the 215k house is just bad at her job. She let the house sit listed over the winter. And I don't think she thinks highly of the area (I know her personally and we have talked about it).

I'm not opposed to going with a realtor even if I found the buyer, because Maryland has a ridiculous amount of laws to comply with. But maybe I should hold off on signing with the realtor for another month to see how everything goes? I'm supposed to sign Monday afternoon.

Sorry so long, thanks for reading.

[Corby Goade]

People don't need to be so afraid of real estate agents. Sure, there are LOTS of bad ones out there, but a good agent can truly be a great resource and business partner for you. 

That being said, every seller thinks their property is worth more- it has X upgrades or the location is better, etc. 

The truth is that sellers don't dictate the value of the property, the buyer does. The only thing a seller can control is how many eyes are on the property, that's it. The more eyes on your property, the more leverage you have. The #1 lever you have to gain leverage is asking price. Once you have more than one offer, you can start pulling the strings, and you can do that by NOT overpricing your property. 

If you overprice and no one looks at it, if and when you finally get an offer, you have little to no control over the narrative. 

Remember, you can choose not to accept any offer, but you need to put yourself in a position where you are at least getting offers. 

As for using a realtor- yeah, you are here asking for advice because you need help, and you should work with a realtor- but not just any realtor. Meet with at least five- the more the better. Worry less about their commissions- those are totally negotiable and you should negotiate, but find someone you has lots of experience, high production numbers and that you trust. I'd say anyone doing fewer than 15 deals per year is not worth talking with, real estate is recreational for them- you want a full time pro. 

Best of luck!