Not all REALTORs are created equal. Some are honest and some aren’t. Many agents will tell you what you want to hear, in order to win the listing. We refer to this as “buying the listing.” This is a main reason why listings expire.
Interview a Few Agents.
Your homes debut is the most crucial step in getting your home sold. Get the “facts” from a few different agents and see which agents’ marketing plan best supports the facts.
You will be surprised at the different prices that a REALTOR will give you based on their CMA. Ask them to see the comparable properties they used to arrive at a price. Are these homes comparable to yours?
Are any of these prices lower than you hoped for? Are any of them higher? Be careful of the agent that comes in higher than your desired price when the other three are lower. Chances are this agent didn’t do their homework, or could be trying to “buy the listing.” What you really need to do here is focus on the facts and determine if the REALTOR has their facts straight.
- What price do you recommend, and what are those numbers based on?
- How long do you think it will take to sell our home?
- Could we see some of the comparable properties you used to price our home?
Basing REALTOR Selection on Price
You really have to think about the time value of money, and the time your home sits on the market. Remember that the longer your home sits on the market the harder it will be to get a strong offer.
Let’s say you hire the agent who tells you a higher price than the other 2 agents.. Your home will likely be sitting on the market until you reduce the price to where it should be. The problem with this is that you will get lower offers on your home, because of the time it’s spent on the market. Had the home been priced properly when you initially listed it you probably would have got a stronger offer in a shorter amount of time. Properties go faster when they are fresh on the market.
Pricing is 90% of marketing your home. It is crucial that you hire an agent based on factual data and not the price they give you. If the price sounds to good to be true, chances are that it is.
Why Do Agents Buy the Listing?
Agents get paid after your home is sold and closed. So why would they price it when they know it won’t sell?
- They are starving and will take whatever they can get
- They have a plan to ask you for price reductions after they win the listing.
- They are clueless and don’t know how to properly price a home.
- They are scared to deliver bad news to you, running away from the truth.
Take the debut of your listing EXTREMELY seriously. If you don’t it could end up costing you months of time, thousands of dollars, and a great deal of stress. Do yourself a favor and interview a few agents including me. 
It is my personal promise to deliver facts, and avoid at all costs relaying information that I think you want to hear in order to win business.
