Maybe sellers think so? We have reverted back to that time when we have to list or sell with substantiating back up figures – the comps. Yet, sellers are skeptical of the figures we are presenting them.
A seller called me this afternoon responding to one of my magazine print ads. She is interested to sell her house. Her house is a 3BR - 2BA, 2 car garage, no pool and, naturally, NICER than all the others because it has a new AC, a new refrigerator and new carpeting in the MB. I was by my computer, so I proceed to give her some quick comps from the MLS. I could hear her hard-swallowing at the other end
Of course, like everybody else, she is a self-appointed neighborhood market authority. She snarls at me telling that my figures are wrong. She said that there are many houses for sale in her neighborhood priced at that much and mine is worth the same as the others. To which I reply: “Maybe I've read those comps wrong. Let me read them again to make sure.” (I love clever sarcasm.) I read her the closed comps again s-l-o-w-l-y: “In the last six months, in your area, there have been only two closed sales and one pending. The ones that closed sold respectively at $95K and $82K less than what you want for yours. They are not quite comparable to yours because they are each a 3BR - 2.5 BA, 2 car garage with pool. The pending is a 2 BR -2BA, one car garage, no pool which does not qualify for this quick exercise.”
She proceeds to deliver me a sermon defending the value of her house and wretchedly accusing Realtors® to be the cause of the decline of home values because we are lazy and we are not using proper selling methods to make things happen in favor of the sellers. She closed by accusing us, Realtors®, to deliberately falsifying comps in order to convince sellers to sell low so we will earn our FAT commissions quickly.
Saved by the office phone ringing, I excused myself saying I have to take that incoming call. “Can I call you back in one hour?” She replied “that’s not necessary. Thank you.”
You all may say that this is only one example but I certainly can feel the resentment at large from listening to people inferring to the fact that Realtors® are not trying hard enough to sell; that somehow we are in part responsible for the decline of the real estate market.
Inspiration is a state where people look for answers of wondering questions; desperation is a time when people need immediate answers or solutions. I guess, sellers now need answers and find justification by blaming us.
John