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We're toying with the idea of putting our house on the market, and before we start interviewing agents, I was hoping I could get some advice.
Do we really need to tell the agent what our mortgage payoff is?
This is my reasoning for why I don't want to tell an agent what we owe: I think our house should be priced at FMV, regardless of what we owe! I really doubt it will sell for less than we owe, but we are in a position to bring money to the table if we need to (though since we'd be doing an in-town move, we aren't going to take a lowball offer since we don't need to sell- just want more space). I just don't think it's anyone's business what our mortgage payoff is, and I don't want a realtor we didn't use to tell a buyer what our "bottom line" would be.
I spoke with a realtor who asked me what we owed, and I avoided the question, but I would like to be prepared with an answer the next time. Thanks in advance for any advice.
If I am listing your home, I may well ask you, "Can you afford to sell?"
That means, "Is there equity, or can you bring money to the table."
In my area, Wake County, NC, I can look up your original Deed of Trust on the Recorder's site and swag in an amortization amount, and take a guess at whether you have enough equity to sell.
If I think you may not, I may press the issue.
I don't want to spend a lot of time and money promoting a home that can't be sold.
But, I don't need to know your balance to the dollar...
I would imagine any realtor is going to want to know "what is your absolute lowest offer you will take". If you don't trust your realtor not to give that information away you probably should find a different realtor.
If I am listing your home, I may well ask you, "Can you afford to sell?"
That means, "Is there equity, or can you bring money to the table."
In my area, Wake County, NC, I can look up your original Deed of Trust on the Recorder's site and swag in an amortization amount, and take a guess at whether you have enough equity to sell.
If I think you may not, I may press the issue.
I don't want to spend a lot of time and money promoting a home that can't be sold.
But, I don't need to know your balance to the dollar...
For some reason the county isn't giving that info anymore. I think they are working on redacting socials, and until then, details aren't available. Kind of weird.
I don't have a problem letting them know we can afford to sell, or giving an idea of what we would like to get out of it (market allowing, of course). I don't want to work for free, and am sure realtors don't either!
Basically, if during the interviews if the realtors tell us the FMV and it sounds too low to us, we wouldn't waste their time or ours by listing. Anyway, maybe I will just tell the realtor we would decide to list with what our "bottom dollar" price would be. Thanks for the response.
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6
I would imagine any realtor is going to want to know "what is your absolute lowest offer you will take". If you don't trust your realtor not to give that information away you probably should find a different realtor.
We plan to interview three different realtors. Should we be telling all of them what our absolute lowest offer would be? Thanks for the response.
For some reason the county isn't giving that info anymore. I think they are working on redacting socials, and until then, details aren't available. Kind of weird.
I don't have a problem letting them know we can afford to sell, or giving an idea of what we would like to get out of it (market allowing, of course). I don't want to work for free, and am sure realtors don't either!
Basically, if during the interviews if the realtors tell us the FMV and it sounds too low to us, we wouldn't waste their time or ours by listing. Anyway, maybe I will just tell the realtor we would decide to list with what our "bottom dollar" price would be. Thanks for the response.
We plan to interview three different realtors. Should we be telling all of them what our absolute lowest offer would be? Thanks for the response.
I would first wait for them to do an analysis and let them tell you what they think your home is worth. No point getting ahead of yourself.
I agree with Mike. I pull your mortgage and amortize it out. While you may not want people to know your amount, I run a net to seller sheet with my CMA's. I need to know that you can clear title. As a listing agent I don't like surprises. If you can clear title, that's great, but I'm with Mike. I don't want to spend money marketing a house and then have the deal fall apart because we didn't run the numbers before listing.
We plan to interview three different realtors. Should we be telling all of them what our absolute lowest offer would be? Thanks for the response.
NO!
None of those REALTORS have an agency relationship with you. If you tell all three agents what your lowest acceptable offer is and one of them, that you don't hire, brings you a buyer, then you just gave away your negotiating position.
I would imagine any Realtor is going to want to know "what is your absolute lowest offer you will take". If you don't trust your Realtor not to give that information away you probably should find a different Realtor.
Actually we don't ask this question because your lowest today may be totally different in 90-120 days of your house being on the market.
A good agent does not need to know your payoff to figure market value or a listing price. They will do a estimated closing cost for you at a certain sales price and you need to know where you stand financially on the proceeds of the house. If there is little equity in the home you would be wise to let the agent know they payoff so when offers come in they will know whether you can afford to sale at a price.
Main thing is don't hide or deceive the agent. Shoot straight so they can do their job. Your agent and you should have a level of trust.
Let me repeat if the agent knows what they are doing, a Market Analysis of your home the values should not be affected by the payoff of the note but recent sales and market conditions.
Just to clarify I certainly would not give that info out before I hired the agent. But assuming you have hired the agent it seems like it will just come up eventually if you start negotiating with a buyer.
None of those REALTORS have an agency relationship with you. If you tell all three agents what your lowest acceptable offer is and one of them, that you don't hire, brings you a buyer, then you just gave away your negotiating position.
That's why I didn't want to answer the question posed to me by the realtor I spoke with! Now I understand why a realtor would ask (because they want to make sure I can clear title/afford to sell), and I would have no problem showing the realtor we choose a payoff or current mortgage statement. Thanks for confirming I shouldn't just give the info to "any old realtor."
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