Do you trust real estate agents ?

[Zeke]

Trust and market evaluation have little to do with one another. A property might have some negatives that really show up in the appraisal. Sure, it's got a fireplace and rain gutters, which both add value on paper, but they might be totally in the wrong place. This same situation would play out the same when using comparables to establish price. Lot size, house size, amenities may equal that of a few houses that sold nearby but the yard looks like crap and it's painted in a non buyer-attractive color.

So the physical stuff is objective but the green grass and fresh blooms in the planters are subjective. One very successful Realtor in my neighborhood always has the front door painted to his liking and he's usually right.

If a seller doesn't cooperate and let the place be 'corrected', then a lower price will attract someone looking for a fixer.

[vash]

I had one, I trusted. completely. I kinda called her my friend afterwards.

sad she doenst work in my new area, and I had to start over. I fired one, and the second one I wouldn't use again.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by vash

I had one, I trusted. completely. I kinda called her my friend afterwards.

When you find a good one, it is a great thing.

The Real Estate Agent for the Trust we bought the house from in SC from was phenomenal.

We are going to rent the house for at least a year and are using his property management folks. Complete pros, crazy good.

I wish he had a business relationship up here when we sell the farm.

[nota]

used house salesman

same as a used car salesman

avoiding both is the way to get the best deals

[vash]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

When you find a good one, it is a great thing.

.

agreed. 100%.

I wrote the kind lady a review on her company's website. she was so embarrassed because she said they read it out loud at a company meeting. she had no idea. but she was touched.

she said they just started reading it, and she didn't realize it was about her until near the end. it was a fun phone call, I apparently made her day.

I actually called her prior to firing my one crappy agent. she gave me advice, asked questions and kinda gave me a pep talk to get up the nerve to even do it!! she gave me some professional key phrases and everything. hahhaha

[recycled sixtie]

Some I do trust and some I don't. The first house my daughter bought with her man I asked the real estate agent to recommend a house inspection person. Big mistake as you can see the conflict of interest. I should have got an inspector that did not know the real estate agent.

The agent just wanted the sale and the inspector said everything was okay. Within a few weeks water leaked into the basement floor. Big cleanup and son in law to his credit dug a hole in the basement floor and installed a sump pump. The basement had been renovated prior to the sale and was freshly painted. The rest not so.

Like the above said there are all kinds of real estate people.

[svandamme]

People who I will never, ever trust
Except for the fact that they are 100% committed to getting the most out of every deal, for themselves.

Politicians
Lawyers
Car sales people
Realtors
Headhunters
Anybody that has anything to do with Marketing, that includes any kind of Clergy.

[speeder]

In Los Angeles for the last several years, I'm not really sure how a RE agent screws you on a sale. On a buy, for sure...but sales prices are so hot that almost every deal gets multiple offers above asking. One of my friends is a RE agent and he posts his listings on IG, most are going for 6-figures over asking in days right now. And that is for $1-2M houses, not $7-8M ones.

[Noah930]

Yeesh. You guys are killing it for me.

One of my ideas is to dump this doctor gig, and go into semi-retirement into real estate. But after listening/reading a lot of your opinions, you're certainly taking a lot of the luster off of that career choice.

As a side note, last month I went on a Porsche drive with a group I've never been a part of before. It was mostly water-pumpers, so that's a new crowd for me. Before the drive, we went around and introduced ourselves in a circle. There were certainly a lot of people either in law or in real estate. They may not all have been real estate agents, necessarily. But there were title people, mortgage people, etc. While it seems like the rest of society had a tough year financially, most of them admitted they had banner years.

[Slowashell]

Can you imagine listing a Porsche, based on the advice of someone that makes a quick commission as long as it sells ?
Why trust a house to someone that has no real vested interest, other than making a quick buck on your work
Offers of 100 K over just proves it was underpriced.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by nota

avoiding both is the way to get the best deals

He was the real estate agent for the Trust that owned the house. We HAD to go through him. You do understand that, right?

My Mom owned a real estate firm with another guy for many years. They did very well. There are numerous strategies for selling a house depending on the market...as Denis mentioned, the listing price is often to get folks to begin to bid, especially in this market. It is a tactic to drive interest, much like BaT. It has nothing to do with under valueing the house: The seller does not have to accept ANY offer for the love of god.

In average markets, Comparatives set pricing. If you are a seller and don't participate in the development of the selling strategy, price and time frame, you are an idiot, not the RE Agent or any of the firms that work on less commission. You tell them what to do if you have any sense.

BTW, appraiser and inspectors are, at least in SC, pulled from a pool of qualified firms...the RE Agent and seller have zero input. The buyer can opt for a specific inspector, but the appraisal is a blind draw for both..

[drcoastline]

NJ RE Broker here- Like every profession there is good and bad. Get CMA's from several see who you build a report with. Remember part of the job is referrals afterward. If they did a good job you are likely to refer them or at least give a complement.

I can not speak for where you are but in this market in my location it is very common to list slightly under market and get a bidding war going. I sold my house in February it was under contract in 48 hours over asking. Buyers had a $20,000.00 escalation clause in the offer. The only clause was the house needed to appraise for the sale price.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

On the value...what's zillow say?

On agents...well, they love their commissions.

Meh, zillow knows squat

[cabmandone]

I was a real estate agent for a while and still didn't trust em.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by masraum

Meh, zillow knows squat

So, tell me...does zillow price higher than market? Lower?

[fastfredracing]

Answer me this then . How bad is it to overevaluate ?
I personally think it is a huge mistake . I think it wastes time, and makes people question why it has been sitting for so long, and then once you start to price drop, it just looks wonky , and brings out the lowballers
I see lots of houses in the area priced higher than ours, with price drops, just festering for 120 days or more . The ones, that I would call over valued .
Man, Id like to be under contract in a few weeks . I've got 4 more to go !

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Answer me this then . How bad is it to over value?

I am not a RE Agent, but since you own a lot of properties, you essentially are

It really is market dependent.

Zillow is really valuable in terms of price history and time listed. As a seller, you can get an idea of pricing and time to sell on comparable houses in comparable areas. Make sure you get the selling price as well.

The pictures also help in the comps.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Answer me this then . How bad is it to overevaluate ?
I personally think it is a huge mistake . I think it wastes time, and makes people question why it has been sitting for so long, and then once you start to price drop, it just looks wonky , and brings out the lowballers
I see lots of houses in the area priced higher than ours, with price drops, just festering for 120 days or more . The ones, that I would call over valued .
Man, Id like to be under contract in a few weeks . I've got 4 more to go !

Exactly why I got out of the business. Got tired of taking the time to do a full market analysis complete with recent comparable sales from courthouse records along with a list of comparable homes listed for sale on the market only to have some asshat come in and throw them some crazy number and get the listing. Then I get to watch as it lingers on the market and finally sells for what my analysis suggested the sales price would be.

[fastfredracing]

I have been watching the market , in my specific neighborhood for the last 1.5 years I know zillow is not always accurate as far as valuation, but watching what houses have sold, and what they have sold for , is the market in my book .
You can clearly see , when someone is overvalued, the places sit. 90 days, 120 days, some are over 200 days. I am not playing to long game here. I wanna unload 5 houses in this hot market and gtfo out of this game .

[cabmandone]

Price it aggressively and let the bidding war begin! Homes around here are bringing more than the listed price because multiple buyers are interested.

Oh yeah and don't forget to show a little cleavage Fred.