IT ONLY TAKES ONE…

[Mark Guagliardo]

IT ONLY TAKES ONE…

When Your Desired Selling Price is too High, Beware!

Meeting with Agents to sell your home
So you’ve decided to sell your property, cash out and have a idea of what you think it is worth. Being a sensible investor, you schedule appointments with three local listing agents who’ve been sending you postcards for years. Each comes prepared with a “Competitive Market Analysis” and slick presentation and they each recommend a specific sales price.

Amazingly, two of the Realtors have come up with prices that are lower than you desired, expected or hoped for. Although they back up their recommendations with recent sales data of similar homes that have sold, you remain convinced your property is worth more.

When you interview the third agent’s figures, they are much more in line with your own anticipated price, or possibly even higher. Suddenly, you are a happy and excited property investor, already deciding how to spend the money. 

A Deceptive Sales Practice Called “Buying a Listing”
If you’re like some people just starting in investing, you pick agent number three. This is a smart agent that get's it, an agent who seems willing to listen to your input, agrees with "whatever you say" and is willing to work with you to get your desired price. This is an agent that cares about selling your property for the highest price and putting the most money in your pocket. This is an agent that is willing to start out at your price and if you need to "drop the price later", you can easily do that, right?

After all, everyone else does it!

The truth is that you may have just met an agent engaging in a questionable sales practice called “buying a listing.”

He “bought” the listing by agreeing to your overpriced expectation and suggesting you might be able to get a higher sales price than the other agents recommended. Most likely, he is quite doubtful that your home will actually sell at that price. The intention from the beginning is to eventually talk you into lowering the price. They agree with you and state “it only takes one”

Why isn't it selling?
An overpriced listing just sits there, gaining days on market, making people think "hmmm, what's wrong with it?" A well priced property will get an offer on the first day or week. the longer it sits on the MLS, the longer your funds are tied up.

Why do some agents “buy” listings this way?
There are reasons. A well-meaning and hard working agent can feel pressure from a homeowner or investor who has an inflated perception of the property's value, it’s a inexperienced or new agent, a part-time agent or under pressure from their broker to get listings or else. On the other hand, there are some bad agents who engage in this deceptive sales practice routinely.

Avoid this trap, it gives you false hopes and delays the sale of your property.

Price it right at the beginning and it will sell, remember these 3 sayings...

1) "Market value is NOT based on your financial needs and desires"

2) "True market value is what a buyer will offer and what a seller will accept”

3) "Do you want to list it, or sell it?"