Let’s say you are the prudent home owner who has built up some modicum of equity in your home. There is no second on the place. In fact, you might even own your home outright. (Which makes you a part of the rare exotic breed “nolo mortgagio” - a coveted and envied species.) Anyway, you’re ready to sell or have to sell due to job relo, etc. and you have a price tag in mind for your property.

You meet with a listing agent who is a cousin to your best friend. The agent comes highly recommended and has a good track record. (The fact that this agent hasn’t bailed out of real estate sales given the current market is also a good sign.) There’s just one problem. You know, or at least must believe, that your home is worth $XXX,000.00, right? Why is your potential agent suggesting a price tag almost 10% under yours?

Real estate agents work on commission. The listing agent will get a percent of your selling price. Recommending a lower price takes $$ OUT of his/her pocket. Hmmmm … what does this all mean?

A GOOD listing agent knows the market and is not afraid to tell you something you don’t want to hear. A BAD agent tells you that you might as well jack the price up another 20k so that you feel really great and special when you sign the listing contract. Then your property sits and SITS. You might get a handful of curiosity viewings, kind of like in a circus sideshow, because some folks just can’t help but wonder what a property priced 20% over market really looks like. But you won’t get any offers.

Most people just won’t want to lowball you down to real market pricing, and they figure you most likely won’t counter within the realm of reality anyway. AND there are about thirty-two thousand other properties out there waiting for a showing.

Home seller, if you REALLY need to sell, please don’t be offended when a good agent gives you a market reality check and suggests a price uncomfortable to you. Here is what that agent is trying to accomplish:

• Making the most of your early days on market - when you are new in this crowded market, you want to be noticed and taken seriously by well qualified and motivated buyers.
• Keeping you in alignment with current appraisal values - say you somehow get an offer on an overpriced property, if the property doesn’t appraise for that value, you could lose the deal. The buyer would have to bring the difference to closing.
• Getting your property sold before the next ice age - properties that get into triple digits for days on market get a bit of a stigma, right? “What’s wrong with it?” It might eventually sell, but you’ll probably find that you have to come down BELOW market to sell a property that’s been sitting.

This all actually really stinks for you, prudent home owner. You’ve done everything right and now that you have to sell, you’re in this history-making atrocious market. Please don’t take it personally. If you had to sell your airline stock and a mammoth SUV as well, things could be exponentially worse. Look to your next place and the buy side for comfort - the closing table will be alot more fun then.