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I have signed a listing agreement with an agent to sell my house but it is not on the market yet . A relative had mentioned to an agent that I was selling my home.
i have been in contact with this agent the past couple days and today she said she had a buyer that wants to look at the home .
is it a bad idea to meet with them? I don't believe it would go against my contract since it's my home right and I should have the right to show it to whoever I want ?
Of course my listing agent would still get their commission if this buyer did end up buying the property .
I'm thinking they will probably try to low ball but maybe worth a shot to see.
Home does need work but I'm debating how much work is worth doing .
Just met with a stager my listing agent works with ( he pays for her services )
and some of the things suggested seemed to seemed like they could add up a lot . I know of course it'll be my choice of what I want to do though.
Since you have signed a listing agreement, you most likely need to refer ANYONE interested in your home to your agent - that's part of their job. Here, at least, that is written into the listing agreement. Your best action would be to refer the agent who says they have a buyer to your agent. There's more to it than getting the commission - the buyer's agent's job is to work for the buyer's best interests and part of that is seeing if they can get you to tell them things that would be to the buyer's best interests and not yours in any negotiations.
Did you tell the buyer's agent that you have listed it with another agent? At that point, an ethical agent would have asked you for your agent's name and contact info and backed off ASAP and done all contact through your agent.
Yes, showing your house before you're actually on the market is ok. I listed a house last week. Pre-marketed it a week prior to listing and allowed showings. Received multiple offers before and after it went active. But each agent interested went through me, not my seller.
You need to have the agent contact your seller. You shouldn't be home during the showing as that's awkward for a buyer.
Since you have signed a listing agreement, you most likely need to refer ANYONE interested in your home to your agent - that's part of their job. Here, at least, that is written into the listing agreement. Your best action would be to refer the agent who says they have a buyer to your agent. There's more to it than getting the commission - the buyer's agent's job is to work for the buyer's best interests and part of that is seeing if they can get you to tell them things that would be to the buyer's best interests and not yours in any negotiations.
Did you tell the buyer's agent that you have listed it with another agent? At that point, an ethical agent would have asked you for your agent's name and contact info and backed off ASAP and done all contact through your agent.
Yes I did tell the buyers agent that I have the home listed . They did not ask for my agent's name and contact information.
A lot of homes get shown before they are officially on the market. A friend of mine was one of three people who recently made offers on a house just before it come on the market. Nothing wrong with that and both agents got their commission. Two offers were full price and my friend's was just under, but he got the house because his was the only cash offer and the recently widowed seller wanted a fast deal.
Unless you're in a market that's "on fire", I wouldn't show the house until it's done & 100% spiffed up. If these buyers really are qualified, you don't want to scare them off or invite lowball offers by showing an incomplete product. There's a saying in the car business that you never visit your car in the body shop. You'll never feel the same about it if you've seen it bent up & disassembled & houses are no different. Look at the 30-page thread here on how many buyers are "offended" or "grossed-out" by seeing a toilet brush in a bathroom for clues.
Seems to me if the house "needs work" and you think that you'll get a "lowball" offer, this would be a good way to test the market.
Do YOU think the house is overpriced?
Staging might boost the price of an already good house but I don't think it will hide one needing work.
Funny, I had a couple who wanted to see my mother's house before it was officially listed. My first thought was "They'll be paying full or more than full price". Not suspecting they'll be trying to lowball. They were tricky they tried that after the inspection.
So if you accept an offer make it clear what your limits are.
That being said, I bought my condo before it was listed and offered 4% less than the asking because it was in the beginning of the crash and all the diving comps supported that. In fact, I shouldn't have bought it at all, looking back LOL. I lost 60% at the bottom before it came back up this past year.
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