often the 1st is best

Often times Realtors see that the first offer is often the best offer. There is an understandable tendency for sellers to think "that was too easy, my home must be undervalued" if they get an offer shortly after listing.

Let me relate a true story: a few years ago a colleague of mine at another brokerage listed his uncle's home. (Always tricky dealing with family and friends...but that's another blog.) Anyway, shortly after listing, he received an almost full price offer on the home. He presented the offer to his uncle. Because it happened so fast, his uncle not only rejected the offer outright but withdrew the listing and asked his nephew the Realtor to re-list it at a considerably higher price. The uncle was convinced that his nephew had severely under priced his home to have fetched such a fast offer.

You are smart, so you know what happened. The home sat and sat on the market and eventually dipped in price by reason of reductions way lower than the original list price until it expired unsold.

While there is not a perfect science, a great Realtor will study comparable sales (not what is listed; you can ask any price you want -- we go by proven results) to suggest a price to you. A great Realtor will also showcase and launch your listing in style and for a brief period of time you enjoy the spotlight of being the new kid in town.

If a buyer has been watching and waiting for a home like yours to come on the market, they'll jump. Make no mistake -- if your home was overpriced, they would not jump! They proceeded with an offer because your Realtor did a great job.

A great Realtor will share with you how they arrived at their pricing, so you don't need to fear being under priced simply so that your Realtor can line their pockets.

And, for every quick sale there are many more sales that take much longer. Over time this balances out for Realtors. When asked the question, "are you going to cut your commission because it sold so fast?" the answer should always be "as long as I can raise it if your home takes a long time to sell!"

Good things do happen! So, if you're lucky enough to get an offer quickly just know that lady luck has conspired with a great Realtor! Take the money and move on with your dreams!

No blame, no shame, no one thrown under the bus

On the heels of my losing $19 on the Superbowl game yesterday, as promised to a dear friend and New York fan, Randyl, today's blog is about the GAME. The game of competition and teamwork. The game of winning the game of admitting defeat.

Most of you have heard that my Patriots came up short by a few points and the Giants won the game. For those that didn't have occasion to see the game, it was a nail biter with changes of fortune. (Now, does it bug anyone else that the sportscasters switch loyalty faster than a New York second when the tides change in the game?)

Anyway...there were many spectacular catches and one spectacular miss for the Pats. It was a game changing miss and when the cameras panned the benches the poor mooks own team mates were hanging their heads. I suspect in part sensing that that missed catch could cost the whole game, and partly feeling for the teammate that missed. Ouch. What great pain to let the whole team down.

In a follow up interview the Pat's coach was asked about that miss. His answer was inspirational. He said, in effect, that the player had made many fine catches for the team and clearly tried his best to make this one. No blame. No shame. No one thrown under the bus.

It is only the small hearted people that take any joy in another's failure. The finest know, without a doubt, that the miss could have been theirs.

The measure of the quality of any team is not how they behave in times of victory and elation, but how they hold together when the tide turns.

Bringing this closer to my work I am reminded of the great quote: "Success has many fathers, failure is always a bastard." The art of explaining a collapsed deal is to cover off honestly without venom. My question to myself and to you is if we're as noble receiving "bad" news as we are receiving fantastic news. Do we consider with our colleagues a way to fix the problem for this time or the next or look for someone to throw under the bus?

Champions in any field should play like champions no matter how the tide turns. Ecstatic in victory and honourable in defeat. The team stays focused no matter what. The coach keeps perspective no matter what.

No blame, no shame, no one thrown under the bus. Hope that's how we all roll!