Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are selling a house and had three agents go look at it. One suggested listing at $164k, one said "$156k or for a quick sale $147k", and the other said $149k.
We actually like the first agent the best, and it's not because she suggested the highest price. She has a great marketing plan and has been the top seller in that area. We've already told her that we would want to list it at $159k because we don't want to lower the price after 2 weeks or so -- why not just list it to sell it?
Now that the 3rd opinion of $149k is in as of today, should we tell her the other agents' opinions and that we want to list it at even lower than that? Her argument is that she markets the houses she lists very well.
This will be a short sale (I think, though we hired an attorney to negotiate with the bank to let us pay the shortage off over 10 years, so it may not be a short sale per se.)
We are selling a house and had three agents go look at it. One suggested listing at $164k, one said "$156k or for a quick sale $147k", and the other said $149k.
We actually like the first agent the best, and it's not because she suggested the highest price. She has a great marketing plan and has been the top seller in that area. We've already told her that we would want to list it at $159k because we don't want to lower the price after 2 weeks or so -- why not just list it to sell it?
Now that the 3rd opinion of $149k is in as of today, should we tell her the other agents' opinions and that we want to list it at even lower than that? Her argument is that she markets the houses she lists very well.
This will be a short sale (I think, though we hired an attorney to negotiate with the bank to let us pay the shortage off over 10 years, so it may not be a short sale per se.)
If the first agent had any real knowledge of short sales she wouldn't be overpricing it. Sounds like the last agent is the most realistic. In a short sale the idea is typically to try and get a quick offer to take to the bank and then start negotiating with them. If it were a normal transaction my advice would be different but based on the little info provided I'd say #2 or #3, but I'm not certain any of the 3 really understand a short sale. Of them all #3 sounds like the best option based on pricing.
#3 happens to have some sort of training/certification in short sales -- there aren't very many at all around that area.
Edited to add: I had already spoken with #1 about listing with her, but have not received any paperwork. Obviously it's not too late, right? If I have an attorney to deal with the bank, how important is the agent's experience in short sales if we list it aggressively, say at $149K?
#3 happens to have some sort of training/certification in short sales -- there aren't very many at all around that area.
Edited to add: I had already spoken with #1 about listing with her, but have not received any paperwork. Obviously it's not too late, right? If I have an attorney to deal with the bank, how important is the agent's experience in short sales if we list it aggressively, say at $149K?
It's not too late until you've signed anything. If you haven't received paperwork from #1 even after talking about listing with her it's probably a sign to NOT sign with her.
The listing agent will control the transaction. Outside of a seller getting paperwork back in a timely fashion they are the most important person involved, attorney included. BTW, I hope the attorney is charging a flat rate and not hourly. I had some concerns over your attorney of choice from your previous post because he/she didn't sound overly knowledgeable about short sales either. If you're in a smaller market/rural area you may just have to go with what you got since you'll have limited options.
Well, again, the attorney in question has a great reputation and was recommended to me by my parents' agent, who has years of experience, also. He charges a flat fee.
I should have specified that I have not received the paperwork yet because she left me a voice mail that she wanted to talk before sending it, and we're playing phone tag. Although I did find it odd that I emailed her last week about wanting to list (late last week) and didn't hear back until today -- she was "on a break", but I thought most agents would use an "out of the office" auto-reply in that case.
We are selling a house and had three agents go look at it. One suggested listing at $164k, one said "$156k or for a quick sale $147k", and the other said $149k.
You get all kinds of advice and you have to decide for yourself what to ask for your price. Too high and you'll waste your time spending months on the market. Too low and... actually not that bad in an active market. If you get reasonable exposure (get a good agent) and the market is responsive (depends on market, here in L.A. not so bad) then you'll get multiple offers, quick action and you'll have to be nimble and decide quickly which offer to accept. Decide on a price way low and you'll have a shark feeding frenzy, although that does not guarantee you a good market price. (Luck figures in.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawmom
I should have specified that I have not received the paperwork yet because she left me a voice mail that she wanted to talk before sending it, and we're playing phone tag. Although I did find it odd that I emailed her last week about wanting to list (late last week) and didn't hear back until today -- she was "on a break", but I thought most agents would use an "out of the office" auto-reply in that case.
My agent has responded within a few minutes to several hours on most days. I'm sorry for them but successful Realtors don't get days off, or rarely. You wanna be in the biz' you gotta be available via cellphone/email even on your days off. I'm sorry for them, and wouldn't ever go into that business myself. But if your agent isn't responsive then get a new one.
My advice is to go with the agent who has the most experience with short sales. It will be important to have someone who knows how to cut through the red tape, someone who knows to document the contacts he/she made with the bank, and, most importantly, someone who is dilligent and patient.
Best of luck!
Thanks for the advice, all. The one agent with the short sale designation has completed 3 short sales and has more she's in the middle of. The agent who gave the highest list price merely said, when I mentioned short sale issues, "Well, anyone can do short sales." Another red flag, huh?
There are not many who have done a ton of short sales in that area, though a year or two from now that will have changed, of course.
...The one agent with the short sale designation has completed 3 short sales and has more she's in the middle of. The agent who gave the highest list price merely said, when I mentioned short sale issues, "Well, anyone can do short sales." Another red flag, huh?...
Shorts sell at a discount because of the increased uncertainty with closing. ( In my are less than 10% of properties listed as short/potential short sale actually close)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
