So often I hear stories from fellow Realtors® who vent out about how their day went showing properties to the "jerk customers" they recently worked with or how stubborn the "dreaming a-hole seller" was at the listing appointment. "That jerk found tons of faults in every house we saw and he shouted that each house was way-way overpriced." Or, I couldn’t convinced the a-hole seller that he wants $10 million dollar way too much for that shack is trying to sell." And so on.
How do we Realtors® act when we become buyers or sellers?
In my career, I have observed that those Realtors® above become the same customer as those they have ridiculed.
Five weeks ago a well known Realtor® looked at one of my condo listings on the beach priced in the high $500K ($35K less than the precious identical sold unit in the building, same stack but mine was two stories higher than the other one). She later presented an offer at $125K less than the asking price which reflected a price equivalent to that of 30 months ago. My Seller was upset and flat out rejected the offer without even counter it. The Agent degraded my seller by calling him stupid and he will be sorry later for not having countered her offer. Two weeks ago we’ve accepted another offer at $40K less that the asking price.
Meanwhile, there are a gazillion of houses and condos for sale in my county. I love to go to open houses. Ironically, many of those overpriced homes belong to Realtors® ". You go in and you hear the same excuses from that seller-agent as you would hear from a layman seller: "My house is worth so much more than all of those in this neighborhood because I filled out all the cracks on the driveway an on the garage walls and I carefully touched up with paint over the filler lines; I am the only one who has a Gardenia bush on his yard; I just put in a new asphalt shingle roof and my lot is a foot wider than any other lots around."
If you are in a downward real estate market price correction of the country, did you or will you price your home at fair market value based on the present comps? Or if you are a buyer anywhere, are you a low-baller too?
Yes, Realtors® are humans too but isn’t this sort of behavior kind of awkward, though like the clergyman preaching morality while engaging in adultery?
John