Innovative Real Estate Blog

Any Agents out there  interested in buying a listing?  I'm not!!!!  When I go out on a listing presentation I gather as much information as possible before meeting with my potential clients.  I include all recent sales comparison in their neighborhood, including statistics comparing from when they bought to when they plan to sell.  I also take a drive by the house and neighborhood to get a better understanding of the subject property.  I try cover all my bases before I meet with them.  However, at times I go up against agents that have a different way of winning the listing, its called lying or as we call it in the industry, buying the listing!  It's also a violation of the REALTOR code of ethics.  The lie is that these agents give false hope the seller convincing them that there home is worth substantially more than the other agents are quoting them.  Automatically the seller wants to list with the broker that comes in with the highest number because the seller really wants to think their house is worth that much.  In reality, the agent is actually doing a disservice to seller  because we all know what happens to over priced listings, they sit and sit.........and sit!!  And the longer they sit the further away from the sellers price you will go.  Time is the enemy when selling a home.  Reports have proven that a home will actually net less in the end if its sits on the market for a long period of time than if it was priced correctly from the beginning and sold right away.  Not to mention the house will start to get this stigma about it and perspective buyers may start to think there is a problem with the house for not selling.

One way you may realize that your Realtor has done this is if they list you home and no one or very little traffic shows up after the first 2 weeks.  During the first 2 weeks you should get your most traffic because your the new house on the market.  Its a buyers market and they are definitely out there.  If no one is coming then there is a problem.  You may ask your Realtor what the think and usually the first thing out of their mouth will be "Lets try a price reduction".  The problem is a small price reduction on an over priced home is like bleeding to death by a paper cut!!

When I sit down with my sellers I am very aware that they are looking at other agents.  I am also aware that some of the competing agents may try to buy the listing.  So what I say to my clients is this, I am not in the business of listing over priced homes because I am not a magician and they simply will not sell on their own.  The other thing I tell them is that if the other agent is feels so strongly about listing at a higher price then he will not have any problem adding certain verbiage to the listing agreement.  Try something like

"It is fully understood between listing agent and seller that at no time during the listing contact will the listing agent approach the seller for a price reduction". 

Call their bluff!!  Watch as they squirm in their chairs and begin to sweat and stutter.

Has this happen to anyone out there?  Give me your thoughts!