Home Pricing

We need listings, as does every agent or broker, and the biggest barrier for us in obtaining listing is our unwillingness to list a property for an unrealistic price. All agents complain about the same thing when comparing notes; prospective sellers will not accept the reality of the marketplace, or they are too deep into their mortgage and cannot afford to sell. The latter is beyond our ability to solve. Short sales or some other accommodation from the lender is called for, and this requires counseling, legal guidance, and financial advice, and we are not particularly interested in talking to these potential sellers until they have these problems sorted out, and by that time some other office has the business. The people unwilling to confront reality we have a chance with if we can point out that the loss of value is a market fact. A house is a tangible asset just as a share of stock in General Motors or some other company is an asset, and the value is determined in the same way; what is someone willing to pay for it? Sure people have lost money on their homes, but a lot less than on most other assets, and if there is a reason to convert the asset to cash, it will happen fairly quickly if the asking price reflects the real value. Most homes listed appropriately sell within 30 days of listing, even in this market. The prospective buyers are out there, but they are not going pay for the seller's emotional attachment. One of the problems with home pricing is the enormous, (in our view), commission add on of the real estate agent. In any market, but particularly in a troubled market, adding 4 to 6 per cent to the home price makes no sense, and in some cases prices the home out of reach of potential buyers. We charge $4995 to sell a home, provide the same service as any other broker, and in general make it possible to price a home for a fast sale and still return maximum value to the seller. When home prices were escalating rapidly and people were selling at huge profits, it allowed buyers and sellers alike to ignore the large amount of money being dissipated in selling costs. No longer. It was always silly to waste money. Now it's almost criminal.
More on this subject later, but remember, it's always smart to reduce the cost of doing business.
As usual,
Thanks for visiting.