Some Utah County Realtors seem willing to listen to your
input and work with you. This is an Utah County Realtor that
cares about putting the most money in your pocket. This is
an agent that is willing to start out at your price and if
you need to drop the price later, you can do that easily,
right?
After all, everyone else does it!
- The truth is that you may have just met an agent engaging
in a questionable sales practice called "buying a listing."
He "bought" the listing by suggesting you might be able to
get a higher sales price than the other local agents
recommended. Most likely, he is quite doubtful that your
home will actually sell at that price. The intention from
the beginning is to eventually talk you into lowering the
price.
Why do some agents in Utah County
"buy" listings this way? - There are basically two
reasons. A well-meaning and hard working Utah County Realtor
can feel pressure from a homeowner who has an inflated
perception of his home’s value. On the other hand, there are
some agents who engage in this sales practice routinely. I
have been selling homes in Utah County for 13 years. Nothing
is more upsetting than losing a listing to an inexperienced
agent that overprices the home. I have asked sellers why
they chose a particular agent and the reason was because the
suggested a high price. Sellers often throw experience and
logic out the window for a dreamy high price.
If you start out with too high a price on your home, you may
have just added to your stress level -- and selling a home
in Utah County is stressful enough. There will be a lot of
"behind the scenes" action taking place that you don’t know
about. Contrary to popular opinion, the listing agent does
not usually attempt to sell your home directly to a
homebuyer. That would be inefficient.
Listing agents market and promote your home to the hordes of
other local agents on the Wasatch Multiple Listing Service
MLS who do work with homebuyers, dramatically increasing
your personal sales force. During the first couple of weeks
your home should be a flurry of activity with buyer’s agents
coming to preview your home so they can sell it to their
clients. Our team finds a buyer on 28% of our own listing
inventory. Compare this to the national average of 5%. This
is a very important fact when
hiring a
Realtor in Utah County.
Pricing Your Utah Home Right
- If you and your agent have overpriced, fewer agents will
preview your home. After all, they are Realtors, and it is
their job to know local market conditions and home values.
If your house is dramatically above market, why waste time?
Their time is better spent previewing homes that are priced
realistically. If you start out with a high sales price,
then drop it later -- your house is "old news." You will
never be able to recapture that flurry of initial activity
you would have had with a realistic price. Your house could
take longer to sell.
Even if you do successfully sell at an above market price to
an uninformed buyer, your buyer will need a mortgage. The
mortgage lender requires an appraisal. If comparable sales
for the last six months and current market conditions do not
support your sales price, the house won’t appraise. Your
deal falls apart. Of course, you can always attempt to
renegotiate the price, but only if the buyer is willing to
listen. Don't overprice your home.