If you have done any type of research you have probably figured out that one of the biggest problems homeowners have when selling a house is that they overprice it. If you make this mistake you are going to have a home that sits on the market longer, has less buyers interest, and possibly a home that simple just will not sell. Maybe you think that this problem is only one that affects people that are selling a house without any professional assistance. Sadly even someone that uses a real estate agent can find themselves with an overpriced home. You may ask yourself why an agent would list a house that is priced to high. Well that is what we are going to discuss in this article.
To outbid the competition.
Most real estate agents know that clients are easily taken in by a higher asking price. Basically if a home seller goes to the first agent who tells them that the house should sell for $150,000, and then a second agent tells them it can be sold for $175,000, a lot of people are going to pick the second agent just because of the higher evaluation because they think they will make a bigger profit on the house.
This happens so much that a lot of agents feel like if they do not overprice the listing that they are going to lose the customer. Don’t worry, there are much better ways of finding a good real estate agent. Maybe you could ask them about how long they have been selling homes in your area? Or how many similar homes to your house they have sold in the recent past? Do they have any special real estate credentials? How many listings that are currently working on at the moment? You want to find an agent that knows how to sell your type of house and who is not trying to sell too many houses at one time so they are able to give you, and your home, the time that you deserve. Sadly, all too often people pick the wrong agent and only after wasting a lot of time are they able to make a transition to another agent. If you have a good relationship it will make the process of selling the house so much better.
To attract other clients.
Certainly not all agents are like this, but some agents are more interested in their business than your home in particular. They will use your home as free advertising to advertise themselves. For example, it has been known in recent years that open houses have a very poor return rate when it comes to receiving home offers. However, open houses are a great way for agents to meet potential buyers that they can turn into clients by meeting them and introducing what the agent has to offer.
Many newspaper ads can run with your home listed for sale but without any details about the home except the agent’s phone number. In this way, interested buyers cannot receive any information without asking the agent, and this is another opportunity for the agent to introduce himself as help. With the yard sign on the front lawn, it is free advertising day and night showing off the agent’s name and phone number. Some even have a large picture of the agent’s face rather than any details about the size or number of bedrooms the house has. Thus, be on the lookout for this sort of behavior and pick an agent who is serious about selling your home, not themselves.
Talk You Down
As stated earlier, so many home sellers judge an agent based solely off the sales price figure that it may be hard to receive business otherwise. Some home sellers are quite adamant about selling for a certain figure, realistically or not, and an agent accepts this amount because he would have lost the seller’s business otherwise. Then, after the agreement is signed, the agent will convince you to redo the price of your home to a more reasonable figure. This is unfortunate because although your home will then eventually be sold, both of you will be missing your opportunity to sell a house quickly because of the high initial sales price.