Charleston SC Metro Real Estate: Michael Johnson, REALTOR, ABR - Goose Creek SC (Carolina One Real Estate)

Get real!  Why would I want to have an agent act as a middleman when I can deal with the builder?  I can get the house for less because there will be no commission to pay. Why should I lose thousands of dollars just to have you walk in with me? If you are a home buyer how often have you thought this?  If you're a Realtor how often have you heard this?

When the cat is away the mice will play.  There are so many things that can work against a home buyer when they aren't properly represented. Check out  the latest scandal by some home builders.  No agent to review your paperwork and you aren't an attorney or well versed in deciphering a harmful clause in a real estate contract.  Glad I'm not you.

People will pay legal fees to protect themselves in a small civil case but think they can "wing it" on their own when buying a structure costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. As I recall a lot of people were taken advantage of by builders.  For example, everyone in the real estate community in Sacramento knew to steer clear of this company.  These unlucky home buyers who went at it alone ended up with a huge mess on their hands. A mortgage on a home they couldn't occupy.

Don't think this is an isolated incident.  Visit www.ripoffreport.com and type in your favorite builder and see what pulls up.  Most complaints are made by buyers who were not represented by an agent.  To further drive my point home, how many of you reading this post think oversight of mortgage lenders and investment people is a good idea?  Who is going to oversee your new home purchase?  The agent who is paid by the builder?  Uh huh, you catch my drift.

You're not  hiring a person who lets you look at the inside of houses or a shuttle driver.  You're hiring a professional who's little subtle re directions during the transaction helps you avoid disasters.  You think it was a great idea and we know it was more than that.  It saved you from a lawsuit.  These lawsuits aren't always contractual either.  Many can fall into the form of discrimination.  Some blatant most subtle.  I didn't know is no excuse in a courtroom.

Even if your theory of a home being sold for more holds true, hiring a Realtor to represent you in a purchase of a new home is much cheaper than the potential mounting legal bills or paying for a home you can't even occupy.  Agents know contracts, federal and local laws, have the inside scoop on bad and good builders and always stay abreast of breaking news that could affect the area you are buying in or the credibility of the builder.  If the builder thinks they can pull a fast one on you to make more money, then there's a good chance they might.

 

 

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All over the country, home sellers are telling real estate agents, "I don't care what your analysis says my house is worth!  I just want to test the market at a good bit more than that."

The next thing we hear them say is, "Listen, it just takes one!"

OK, that's not how it works.

You need something more than a hunch or a crystal ball to come up with the magic number that will attract offers on your home.  You need an analysis that will give you a well-focused snapshot of what is happening in your building or neighborhood - right now.

Tonight, I am preparing a market analysis for some sellers in one of Washington's premier buildings, and I was totally struck by some of the numbers that I saw. 

I looked at the eight units that have sold since the first of the year.  The average sold price was $614,375.  And the average list price was $666,625, only about 8 percent higher that what these units sold for.  But the original price where the sellers tested the market was a whopping $806,375.  This means the units that sold went for an average of 24% less than the optimistic "test" price. And every single one of these sellers had to negotiate with buyers who wound up getting their units for less, sometimes much less, than the sellers were asking.

During the same time, 21 sellers took their units off the market altogether, and 11 of those had had no price reduction at the time they withdrew from the market.

The MRIS statistics do not, of course, tell the entire story.  They don't show whether or not any of these sellers attracted offers that they declined to accept.  They don't tell us whose idea the price was to begin with.  It might have been sellers trying to test the market, or it might have been over optimistic listing agents. 

Either way, I think it's important for sellers to expect a carefully prepared analysis of what is going on in the local market as part of coming up with that magic number - the one that will at least attract buyers who want to make offers on the house or apartment.

And remember -

You don't test the market

The market tests you!

And if you price your home too high to attract offers, the market will flunk you!  Yep!  A big ole "F".

When your market speaks to you, it could care less what you paid for the property, how much you improved it, or what you need to buy your next place. 

Yeah, that old market can be just ruthless!

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