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Now I will say I'm not interested in buyers who are going to make offers that are so ridiculous they'll never be accepted. It's a waste of everyone's time, normally upsets the seller, and damages an agents reputation.
Tell me - why does it damage your reputation to try and get a deal for your buyer? When you sell that house for some crazy high price, doesn't everyone Ohh and Ahhh over your skills? Why isn't the reverse true for fighting for your buyer clients?
Or, is your job not to represent buyers, but rather to just puff up prices so your colleagues can continue all the BS about how real estate is always a good investment....
If you are afraid of how you are "going to look" when fighting for your clients, then that is a problem with the profession.
It all comes back to the same thing----your home is only worth what a person is willing to pay for it as posted several times on this thread. If a person "really" wants your home they will pay whatever you are asking. If a person can find another home similar but at less the cost they will go there. We just bought our home last year--we knew how much we were willing to pay and what we wanted. When we found a home that fit our situation we bought it. Simple! We looked at so many homes but once we found what we wanted/needed we just bought it.
It all comes back to the same thing----your home is only worth what a person is willing to pay for it as posted several times on this thread. If a person "really" wants your home they will pay whatever you are asking. If a person can find another home similar but at less the cost they will go there. We just bought our home last year--we knew how much we were willing to pay and what we wanted. When we found a home that fit our situation we bought it. Simple! We looked at so many homes but once we found what we wanted/needed we just bought it.
Good post. That is why I am at peace with declining the very low offer and countering with something that I thought was fair, even if it was lower than what I wanted. The potential buyers never even gave a response. They were not willing to negotiate, they just wanted a deal or "steal" I should say. If nothing else, my neighborhood is extremely desireable...nice homes, safe and family oriented, very well maintained and close to everything from schools to shopping. Those buyers will get their price, but not in this neighborhood. So, I am going to wait it out, still being flexible. When I sold my last home in a sellers market, I did not do it with the intent of "making a kill." I hoped for a nice family to love and take care of my home the way I did. So I didn't ask for a ridiculous price or act so arrogant as someone should kiss my feet to buy my house. I guess some buyers can't help acting like vultures in this kind of market. But then again, they will set their own market value of that house they just purchased at that ridiculously low price.
Good post. That is why I am at peace with declining the very low offer and countering with something that I thought was fair, even if it was lower than what I wanted. The potential buyers never even gave a response. They were not willing to negotiate, they just wanted a deal or "steal" I should say. If nothing else, my neighborhood is extremely desireable...nice homes, safe and family oriented, very well maintained and close to everything from schools to shopping. Those buyers will get their price, but not in this neighborhood. So, I am going to wait it out, still being flexible. When I sold my last home in a sellers market, I did not do it with the intent of "making a kill." I hoped for a nice family to love and take care of my home the way I did. So I didn't ask for a ridiculous price or act so arrogant as someone should kiss my feet to buy my house. I guess some buyers can't help acting like vultures in this kind of market. But then again, they will set their own market value of that house they just purchased at that ridiculously low price.
I'm in a similar situation. I countered a ridiculous offer, but got no response. It's obvious they either weren't serious, or they were looking for a steal. Sorry, I'm not selling at 73%. My house is priced right. Most sellers set the price according to comps, but the buyers don't seem to do their homework or they'd know what kind of offer to make. The agent of this buyer was apologetic and told me her client loved the house, but wasn't the right buyer. She said the right one will come along (ya think?) and they'll appreciate the way it's been maintained and apdated.
Good post. That is why I am at peace with declining the very low offer and countering with something that I thought was fair, even if it was lower than what I wanted. The potential buyers never even gave a response. They were not willing to negotiate, they just wanted a deal or "steal" I should say. If nothing else, my neighborhood is extremely desireable...nice homes, safe and family oriented, very well maintained and close to everything from schools to shopping. Those buyers will get their price, but not in this neighborhood. So, I am going to wait it out, still being flexible. When I sold my last home in a sellers market, I did not do it with the intent of "making a kill." I hoped for a nice family to love and take care of my home the way I did. So I didn't ask for a ridiculous price or act so arrogant as someone should kiss my feet to buy my house. I guess some buyers can't help acting like vultures in this kind of market. But then again, they will set their own market value of that house they just purchased at that ridiculously low price.
I'm with you - we priced our house fair, it's in a desirable market, a lot of nice updating, and centrally located to everything. There is very little to compare; although it will take the right buyers for the "quirky" floor plan in our house.
Like you, it is important to me to have buyers who really love and want the home - those are the type buyers I am willing to negotiate with as much as I can. Those just looking for a "steal" can just move on to the bank owned properties or whatever; although as far as I can tell, in our area there are really very few, and in my neighborhood I would say none at all.
The fact is, we have all the time in the world to wait for that "right" buyer, we have had many who have it on their list, but they haven't committed to buying anything yet. Sometimes we get impatient, but it's going to happen sooner or later. Dropping the price does NOT guarantee a sale, in fact, I think it sometimes works against you. Let people make an offer based on what they think is fair or can afford, and proceed accordingly.
Good luck to everyone who is in the same boat here!
When buyers pick a part your house, they are just trying to justify their low ball offer they just made you. Houses shouyld already be priced to reflect these issues, they just want to get it lower.
This was our major issue. We had our house priced very competitively, taking in mind the few issues we knew people would come back with. That said; we still got low ball offers; some would negotiate, some would say that was all they could pay.
After looking back, we should have price our house $30-$50 grand above what we could take for the house. People would have come in and low balled us, they would feel like they were getting a deal and we would be happy with the offer.
Tell me - why does it damage your reputation to try and get a deal for your buyer? When you sell that house for some crazy high price, doesn't everyone Ohh and Ahhh over your skills? Why isn't the reverse true for fighting for your buyer clients?
Or, is your job not to represent buyers, but rather to just puff up prices so your colleagues can continue all the BS about how real estate is always a good investment....
If you are afraid of how you are "going to look" when fighting for your clients, then that is a problem with the profession.
I can't sell houses for ridiculous crazy high prices nor do I wish to. Buyers aren't rubes that can't figure out if house if priced correctly or not. If they like the home and it's priced fairly they make an offer. Likewise sellers know what their house is worth at fair market value and don't want to give it away. If they want to give it away, it's usually priced to sell quickly anyway so they don't have to take some ridiculous offer. They'll wait for one closer to asking price.
I want my buyers to get the best deal I can get them. I only have a limited amount of time and I choose to spend with reasonable, motivated, qualified clients. If all a buyer wants to do is spend my time and gas looking at homes and making unrealistic offers then I am not the right agent for them.
On the flip side, if an agent always overprices homes they develop that reputation as well. Comments such as "He buys listings" or "His listings are always overpriced so we should come in low to make sure to get at fair market" come to mind. No, I price listings at fair market value. Because I'm knowledgeable and professional sellers normally agree with my analysis. If a seller wants to put the price at an unreasonable number I don't take the listing because it would be waste of time and money marketing a home that won't sell.
I do fight for my clients. I'm a smart negotiator. Up until this year I sold listings for a 99% net but I'm only at 97% this year. Last year our market was 95% net but this year is 93% so far. I saved my buyers 6% last year and this year is 8%. Part of helping my buyers get deals is making sure they don't make ridiculous offers that make a seller angry at them to start with. If the seller makes up their mind they don't like a buyer it's that much harder than if they remain neutral or positive.
One of the things that makes real estate more difficult is the fact that everyone thinks they know more about the job than the full time professionals.
Last edited by Brandon Hoffman; 05-26-2008 at 06:38 PM..
Reason: added last 2 paragraph
One of the things that makes real estate more difficult is the fact that everyone thinks they know more about the job than the full time professionals.
That is soooo true. A good realtor is worth every penny of the commission he/she earns. Negotiation is not only a skill; it is an art. Not everyone is capable of doing it well.
I am a buyer right now. I have been looking for 15 months. I keep hearing "motivated seller" but asking prices are nowhere near reasonable or realistic. So many people here either paid too much or took huge cash outs and they are unable to price their houses in order to sell. I am seeing many of these homes sit on the market until they foreclose and then are offered at 40-50% less than previous asking price as an REO, and still they sit.
While I do not disagree with the reality check you provided, I am curious if the terms reasonable or realistic pricing is defined as affordable?
What's your benchmark? If it's other recently sold compariable properties, why did you not buy one of them?
Just as buyers do not care what the seller needs out of a sale, sellers do not care what you can or are willing to pay. Thus the stalemate.
On the flip side, if an agent always overprices homes they develop that reputation as well. Comments such as "He buys listings" or "His listings are always overpriced so we should come in low to make sure to get at fair market" come to mind.
My local favorite overpricer, seeks out the nearly dead or estate homes. She has done her share of ambulance chasing. She puts big numbers in the owner's eyes and hangs on for Mr Toad's Wild ride. Her sales are typically about 70% of the original ask. Of course, she only counts the most current ask and forgets that it took 18 months to get there. Every new listing she gets is a bargain in the making. The sellers are long time owners and rarely have a mortgage and her listings become stale donuts and someone's bargain.
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