Worried that you sold too fast?

Sometimes a great Realtor can be a victim of their own accuracy.  (What the hell does she mean by that, you wonder?!)  Pricing a home for sale is part science based on fact, part experience, part developed skills and part intuition.  When a home is priced right on the money, right at the beginning of being on the market, showcased professionally and marketed aggressively, odds are good that an offer will come in sooner rather than later.  Sometimes when this happens, the seller can wonder if the Realtor priced it too low.  And, further, it seemed so effortless...is the Realtor charging too much?

The best comparison I've come up with so far is to think about being in the dentist's chair.  Imagine your dentist has your mouth forced open with one of those delightful rubber dams wedged in.  At this point, would you feel you got more value if they took a long time getting the job done?  Maybe you'd really think you got your money's worth if they had to give you another injection of freezing because it was taking so long?  Of course not, the more painlessly and quickly they can remedy the situation the better you like it!  Imagine the increased delight if they even let you know what they were doing?!

With something as important as your oral health, you'd place your trust in the doctor with the best skills wouldn't you?  In matters of great health and financial importance you need the best skillset, not the most drawn out process or the cheapest practitioner.

I'm not comparing Realtors to dentists, but simply making the point that if you have a Realtor with deft enough skills to get your home sold with little fuss and quickly you have picked a great Realtor!  Don't hold it against them!  A great Realtor is always interested in long term retention of clients and would never be so foolish as to deliberately underprice your home!

There are many ingredients to successfully marketing your home!  A top professional makes it look easy.  It looks easy because that person knows what they're doing, knows people, knows local market conditions, has a sense of timing, understands encouraging cooperating Realtors, knows how to showcase your home professionally and price accurately.  The development of these skills takes time and experience.

Developing a trusted bond with a trustworthy and effective Realtor will be one of the greatest relationships you ever maintain!  Not only will your real estate transactions be as lucrative as possible, you will always have an advocate with an eye open for timely offerings that would benefit you!  And, imagine your increased delight when they even let you know what they are doing?!

The perils of "low ball" offers

Here's the thing.  There's a "modest" low offer and then there's stupid.  Nothing backfires quicker than a poorly executed "low ball" offer.  No reputation is harder to shake than being notorious for bringing stupidly low offers to the table.  If you really just want an exercise in writing offers, practice on your relatives.

Before putting pen to paper on a contract a great Realtor researches recent activity, solds, assessed price, recent price reductions and several other factors relevant to the transaction.  If a home just dropped their asking price 40,000 going in with an extremely low offer within a few days is not a recipe for happy campers.

Market value is simply this:  what a REASONABLE and willing seller and a REASONABLE and willing buyer will agree upon.  Are there any "steals" to be had?  Perhaps when circumstance forces someone into a quick liquidation or when sellers are not using the services of a great Realtor you will see a transaction well below market value.  The only other time you're likely to see an extremely low price succeeding is when a major problem has been uncovered or when a property is part of a larger trade.

By law, I have to inform my sellers of any offer.  Imagine that the seller has listened well to pricing strategy and has priced their home fairly; even slightly below market value.  Now, this quiz isn't rocket science:  what do you think happens when they hear of an offer that is 50,000 under a "more than fair" asking price?  If you guessed tell the buyers to pound sand you are correct.  With good coaching they will sometimes stop fuming long enough to counter the offer -- at or ABOVE list price.  It is just not a good way to try to save buyers money!

In auctions there is often a reserve bid so everyone knows not even to dream about bidding lower than that.  We don't have that in real estate -- we rely on professionals knowing their business. 

Better not to raise expectations and waste time promising an offer on a home only to produce an insulting offer with little chance for forward movement.  If your client insists on trying a "low ball wonder"...at the very least, a courtesy call to the listing Realtor could save everyone headache and heartache.  We can't reveal what our seller's bottom line is, but we can certainly indicate whether they would be receptive to a harshly low offer.

By using a great Realtor, the seller is never pressured into an under par offer.  Only the one hit wonder Realtors are more concerned with selling at any price.  Make sure you put your most precious possession into good care and keeping!

Eeekkkk, someone wants the same house you do!

Dang. Double Dang and Darn it all!  Just when you thought you had a clear shot on your offer for the home you've been hoping to buy your Realtor phones you with that awful sentence.  "We're now in competition."  What does this mean, and what can you do?

What this means is that at least one other interested party wants the home that you want.  What you don't know is what their offer will be or what their terms are.  But, whatever your offer contains needs to be reviewed.  Ask yourself these questions:

1.  Am I willing to offer over list price?
2.  Am I willing to go in without "subject to financing?"
3.  Am I willing to fore go an inspection?
4.  Am I willing to drop any other clauses meant to protect my position?
5.  Am I willing to be flexible on dates of possession?

A great Realtor will explain the risks of removing any subjects prior to your offers acceptance.  While you do want to make your offer as big in money and small in subjects as possible, you also don't want to risk any big problems! 

In super heated markets some buyers actually take an inspector with them to look!  Taking an inspector around is not an easy thing to do....you might, however, have time to have one look at the property before the offers are considered.  Otherwise, unless it is a new home with a warranty it is risky to strike an inspection.  If you have the money in the bank and don't need a mortgage you can strike the subject to financing clause; however if you need a mortgage, even if you're pre-approved the bank needs to be satisfied with the exact property you want to spend their money on, so that too, is risky to strike.  If you can obtain the property disclosure statement and title prior to offers being considered and they are not worrisome at all you can strike those clauses.  Another common clause is to find insurance and that you can make a call about in a snap (at least during business hours).  Most home insurance is easy to come by unless the home is out of a fire protection area and/or in an interface area.

If you have flexibility in your timing, you may wish to leave the dates completely open and at the seller's choice....that can often make or break a competing offer.

In competitive offers you REALLY need the help of a great Realtor.  A great Realtor will always attempt to present your offer personally to the sellers and represent you in the best light.  And, even the best Realtor won't win every one.  Sometimes someone with unlimited reserves comes along that really, really wants the property and offers a suitcase full of cash for it.  Please, don't shoot your Realtor if they have to bring you that message....

Some people completely shy away from offers in competition; however, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Not every offer in competition is a grand one; so you can go in as normal and see what happens....you might be pleasantly surprised that they picked your offer!

There are many other strategies that a Great Realtor will have to help guide you!  Once again, proving that a Great Realtor is worth every cent they make and then some.

shoulda, coulda, woulda, DIDN'T!

There are many tales to tell in the circle of Realtors about offers that were rejected!  In hindsight many of those offers were the best to come along and the property ended up selling for significantly less.  So why the rejection?  Maybe it was the first offer (often the best) which got the seller to thinking that maybe they should ask more money.  Maybe the seller was emotionally involved still with the property and not ready to let go.  Maybe the seller didn't like the buyer.  Maybe the buyer watched the news and got scared silly that the sky was falling.

Over and over and over again there is one cliche in the business that proves itself about the two things that kill successful real estate transactions:  Fear and Greed.

When you are dealing with a professional Realtor, a great Realtor, they are going to advise you to act in your best interest.  At the end of the day, we have to follow all of your "lawful instructions" however you do pay us for professional advice!

While great Realtors are empathetic, they should not be riding your emotional roller coaster.  They should be the voice of reason.  You might not always like what we have to say -- but you've employed us for that very reason...to give you the best possible guidance through and often complicated process.

Of course all bets are off if any careless Realtor is only after making a deal.  Those are not the ones I'm talking about.  (And, if you suspect the one your dealing with does not have your long range best interest at heart, I encourage you to look to find a truly fine Realtor.)  You want a Realtor who will collaborate with you from a strong and honest place.

When I advise people I often lead with this statement:  "When you see me in the grocery store in 2 years I don't want to have to duck the oranges you're tempted to throw!  I want you to be happy to seem me and happy with your choices."

On the ground this means I've pointed out the drawbacks as well as the great points of your choices.  I've counseled you on re-sale options, perception of neighbourhoods, possible area impacts and any other factor which might have long term consequence.  On the ground this means that when you have a good offer on your home but start getting cold feet I will do everything in my powers of persuasion to keep you moving in the direction that will best serve you.

I don't want any of my clients to be the ones regretting missed opportunities for happiness and wealth.  So, when the time comes to talk about real estate transactions -- do speak with a trusted professional!  A living, breathing, accessible professional!

To once again steal a phrase from the movie, Jerry Maguire, "help me help you!"