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Old 02-08-2008, 09:17 AM
 
Location: Burlington VT
1,405 posts, read 4,777,124 times
Reputation: 554

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In my opinion, you'd have been better served by hiring a licensed appraiser - one who LOCAL mortgage lenders have used repeatedly in your neighborhood - to help you price your home. In my neighborhood you can get a short form HUD appraisal for $250. $350 dollars.

Then you could have interviewed Realtors about what good Realtors are actually expert in - marketing homes.

You aren't the first seller to expect Realtors to demonstrate they are the person to list with by showing you a CMA, and you wont be the last, but in my opinion this isn't well advised.

I always tell sellers that if they have any question about the price we agree to market the house at I will pay for this appraisal out of my commission dollars at closing.


David Beckett
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Old 02-08-2008, 09:56 AM
 
Location: NJ
2,210 posts, read 7,013,444 times
Reputation: 2193
I like the appraisal idea, if nothing else it will give you a baseline to work from. The guy saying $715 may not be losing you 23% of your homes value if you don't have a hope in h*ll of getting what another realtor says you could get, or a person of getting a mortgage to pay for your home - that's just put a magic number in your head.

Get the appraisal and interview the closest realtors for their input and marketing ideas that can realize the best and most realistic price possible in the time frame you have set.
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Old 02-08-2008, 10:45 AM
 
69,368 posts, read 63,929,437 times
Reputation: 9383
Quote:
Originally Posted by westchester View Post
P.s. Zillow has me at 715k????????????????????????//
Funny, isnt that the EXACT price that the first real estate agent claims is the value? If he's using zillow.. Fire him before he begins.
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Old 02-08-2008, 10:50 AM
 
69,368 posts, read 63,929,437 times
Reputation: 9383
Quote:
Originally Posted by chaz longue View Post
In my opinion, you'd have been better served by hiring a licensed appraiser - one who LOCAL mortgage lenders have used repeatedly in your neighborhood - to help you price your home. In my neighborhood you can get a short form HUD appraisal for $250. $350 dollars.

Then you could have interviewed Realtors about what good Realtors are actually expert in - marketing homes.

You aren't the first seller to expect Realtors to demonstrate they are the person to list with by showing you a CMA, and you wont be the last, but in my opinion this isn't well advised.

I always tell sellers that if they have any question about the price we agree to market the house at I will pay for this appraisal out of my commission dollars at closing.

David Beckett
I didnt think about that, but I agree with you 100%. Paying for the appraisal up front, would save the OP some headaches later, and give them an appraised value to advertise the savings in buying this home, vs another one.
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Old 02-08-2008, 11:03 AM
 
515 posts, read 1,033,525 times
Reputation: 270
I recently went to an open house where it was priced at about $140/sqft. New construction literally 200yrds away was going for around $110/sqft, and had better options. So I asked the agent what justified the high price. Her response was that comps in the area varied so she just picked a number...I guess it's more of an art than a science....the house is still on the market....
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Old 02-08-2008, 12:01 PM
 
Location: Moved to town. Miss 'my' woods and critters.
25,464 posts, read 13,542,325 times
Reputation: 31760
Would get an appraisal first. Keeping in mind that there are many reasons for appraisals. Be sure to mention this is for selling the property. Not, divorce, an estate, etc. Sounds as if some of these agents may have used 'active' listings as well as 'solds' when doing their comps. Not accurate. Have to use 'solds'. Good luck to you.
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Old 02-08-2008, 01:02 PM
 
Location: Barrington
63,919 posts, read 46,539,278 times
Reputation: 20674
As you probably know, the real estate market within Westchester is diverse and local. What's happening in lower Westchester is not the same as northern Westchester, east versus west. These are, for the most part small communities and often attract very different buyers.

I am curious. Is there something unique about your property, perhaps location, lot size or home style that makes it more of a challenge to comp? Do you live next door to the Clintons?

Did any or all of these agents do an actual CMA and explain to you how they arrived at their recommended sale price? One would think you would find many of the same comps, in each CMA, given the size of Westchester communities.

If there is something very unique about your property, getting an idependent appraisal may shed additional light on this situation. Having said this, I caution you to be aware that an appraisal represents only one person's opinion of value and no two independent appraisers will come up with the same number and they have a tendency to favor the one who is paying for the appraisal.

They also date very quickly, especially in a spring market which is why we so often see homes listed at $X less than the appriased value. This kind of thing sometimes makes buyers percieve it's a good deal when reality is, it was nothing more than one person's opinion at a single moment in time.

Appraisers, like Realtors, rely upon area comps. Appraisers are often at a disadvantage because they have not seen the insides of the comp properties and don't know why homes sold for the price they did. LOcal agents should know, especially givin the size of most communities in Westchester county.

Intuitively, I am thinking reality may be the median price and there is only a 10% difference between price #3-4, not unusual, especially if there is something unique about the house. If the median is low, too low, you will be quickly swampped with multiple bids. The companies who placed a higher value on your property will be rushing their clients through your front door to snatch it up before anyone else.

I am a strong believer that the market corrects a misjudgement in price, especially in the Spring market. If it's priced too low, bidders will compete and it will sell for more than the ask. If it's priced too high, either it will not be shown or if it is, it is being shown to sell another property. The market contantly talks to sellers who are willing to listen.
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Old 02-08-2008, 01:12 PM
 
Location: Barrington
63,919 posts, read 46,539,278 times
Reputation: 20674
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northwoods Voyager View Post
Sounds as if some of these agents may have used 'active' listings as well as 'solds' when doing their comps. Not accurate. Have to use 'solds'. Good luck to you.
I use a combination of both closed and actives. Closed establishes fact. Active establishes wishful thinking and more importantly, the competition.
Every owner decides if he wants to sell the competition or use them to become sold.
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Old 02-08-2008, 03:24 PM
 
372 posts, read 847,349 times
Reputation: 126
A broker should be able to provide you closed sales, active and pending sales for you to judge.

By having the closed sales you can judge the past. Actives and pendings will help let you know about the current market.

They should be able to do an absorption analysis... letting you know what the average days on market is for comparable homes to yours, how many months inventory is currently on the market, etc.

I'd recommend choosing the broker with the best marketing program rather than the one that gives you the highest figure. Based on the information you gather from your broker and from your own homework, pick your price. Hire an appraiser if you're uncomfortable doing the work yourself, but understand that the buyer will have his/her or lender's own appraisal done as well.
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Old 02-08-2008, 04:41 PM
 
Location: New York, Westchester
506 posts, read 2,275,205 times
Reputation: 238
Default Thanks for all the input.........

Just a little 411 ...I am also a Broker....................I buy and sell mostly for myself, the situation that brought me to getting my house CMA is that a Property I was looking @ to buy and flip, my wife really liked, and she wanted it to buy and keep. So I called someone who I value their opinion and who has been doing R. E. for over 20 years, and he came in with the same # as I was thinking $979k.......Reason being keep it under a $1 million......But then out of curiosity I called all the other "Realtors" and I had them do the CMA without telling them that I was in the business and I could bring up the same comps on the mls as them................I was thinking let me make sure we are right....I also felt if someone came in and really Wowed me I would give them the listing.......... well needless to say the only other agent that came close to my # gave a horrible presentation..........I really wish I had my house wired up like one of these hidden camera shows so people could see how bad they really were......It was weird seeing it from the other side,,,,,,,,I think agency's should hire a company to spot check their agents to see what their weak and strong points are.......it really was inlightning......And is my house hard to comp out I do not think SO, it is a tri-split,3 1/2 baths 4 bedrooms, Hardi-plank exterior ( one agent didn't even know what it was WTF) 2 car garage with 3000sq. ft on a double lot with 6 car paver driveway with a 2 tier pavered patio with an outside bar......the whole house is top of the line , wolf,Bosch,sub-zero, hard wood I redid the whole house 3yrs ago it took me 7 months............a 1700 ft house just sold near mine with 1-1/2 baths. 2-1/2 beds 1 car gar, old siding on 1 lot and it sold in 3 weeks for 720k no comparison to mine...so I don't know what to say......P.s. the 1 Realtor who told me it's worth over 1.1mil.. has called me 5 times just to make sure i don't list it for under 1.1mil( She actually was also the only one who recognized me and asked me when she came back if i was a broker......
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