…On a local note, I’m seeing a lot of people getting great deals on primary homes in good locations. I’d be in the market this coming year if I hadn’t just bought a home two years ago and my wife will kill me if I try to move us again.
On the list side, it’s a disaster for many. I’ve been very, very blunt with seller’s contacting me. I’ve had to really prepare them so there is no doubt how things might go.
Some people will be fine selling due to quality of home and location combined with low buyer interest rates. However, for many… a disaster and they need someone to guide them through the process if they have to move.
– Commenter Eric Rojas, offering a Realtor’s-eye-view glimpse into the challenges facing sellers (and their agents) in the coming year.
If I were selling my place today and an agent came back at me with a price that was financially ruinous for my family, I would just take my place off the market right away and stay there. Sorry agent, your smug attitude just lost you a listing. Agents do need to be honest about the current market, but I’m tired of them acting like they have to b****slap sellers into deals that are not in their best interest. Afterall, agents get a cut of the sale no matter what, and it’s in their interest to sell quickly in this market.
With layoffs increasing many people are in situations where they can’t afford to take their houses off the market – they need to sell and move to a new city for work. I have 2 friends in this situation. They are flexible in their asking price, and have buyers who claim to be interested interested, but it seems like people are still waiting for the market to bottom out and are holding off on signing contracts. One also had a buyer whose financing fell through. There is no way around the fact that it is an AWFUL time to have to be selling.
UptownR, I’m amazed how I get attacked for making an assessment. You’ve seen me on these pages enough to know better. I don’t expect this misplaced criticism and name calling from you…
How is this smug? How is it “my price” that is financially ruinous and not the reality of the situation? I in fact do recommend people do not sell if the the likely scenario is not in their interest. If they should stay, and can stay… stay. You’ve made my case.
I still have people who would like to go on the market at $20K to $50K over than what I believe is reality.
One example is a friend of mine who’d like to list their primary home with me. I did not ask what they paid or what they thought they should sell for until after my analysis.
They live in neighborhood A. It’s been tough going in neighborhood A. I know this because I list property and represent buyer’s in the neighborhood frequently. Secondly, I bring in several opinions from others with no monetary interest on what the list price should be. They don’t NEED to sell, but would like to live in another neighborhood. In two years, they would really like to move out of the city. They really needed to know what was going on and I gave them the most complete picture possible, with many scenarios.
Period. If you go this route, I recommend this… if you go route two, I recommend this…etc…
If they are serious about selling to move out of the city, they have to be prepared.
Attrill has it right. Many do not have the luxury to “take the unit off the market” and need my help. I take classes on short sales and foreclosures, get information packets from attorneys, line up resourses for clients in distressed situations. If you would refrain from calling me smug, I’d invite you to my office and I can show you some case examples of the many different client scenarios I’ve dealt with. Good and bad.
I think your comment is way off base. You may not need my services and may possess a higher level of sophistication on these issues, but some choose to hire me. I am really, really careful and try to bring in as many experts before advising a client on a sale.
Another thing UtownR needs to know about my “interest”. If the listing is a foreclosure or short-sale situation, the lender/bank calls the shots on commission. It’s not guaranteed. So what many brokerages do is throw on a lock-box, leave the place unappealing and do not provide accurate information or photos because they may not get paid much on the sale. These units tend to sell lower than they should (if they were cleaned up, staged and listed properly etc… to be more attractive and less sketchy to the buying public).
I just offered personally on a foreclosure condo to clean up, repair and put on the market because it was so ridiculously under-priced. I lost in a multiple offer. The listing brokerage did not indicate it included parking (it did) and storage (a huge storage room). They also listed the place un-kept and without appliances… and on lock box.
The building was in great shape, had an active Board etc… but buyers would have a hard time getting this info from the broker (who was slow responding at all to me, a Realtor with an offer on the table).
If $15K was invested in this place and it was lightly staged, I would have listed for $80K more than it’s final list price and still have been a bargain for the neighborhood in my analysis. if it was just cleaned up and information was presented properly and to the fullest, the place would have sold for more anyway.
There are many variables and I do my best to plan a strategy with clients using as many resources as possible. Even in a short sale situation, I will provide the same brokerage services and advertiseing etc… as any listing.
A friends company had to turn down a potential employee who’d been given an offer, they claimed that they couldn’t sell their place (in Iowa I think) and wanted more time. The company finally rescinded the offer, since it appeared no attempt was made to show up for work (either via renting a place here and renting out the one in Iowa or other means). I don’t know what the rental market is there – I would have thought if you wanted the job enough, you could find a way, a renter or the like and find something temporary here until you sold the place. Attrill’s post reminded me of it.
SheridanB, renting is an option and a good point. The “new and improved Tribune” ran an advice column concerning becoming a landlord a few weeks back.
But again, this is not feasible for many. 1st, once you start renting the unit it usually becomes more difficult to sell and you may be a landlord for a long time. Secondly, the renters can cause damage to the property or not pay rent… causing more financial problems. Third, some people can’t afford to carry a new rental and meet what’s left over for their mortgage payment for their home.
I think that potential employee had to weigh the risks of renting their home and probably just had to stay put than to dig a deeper hole.
In my response above, I forgot to mention some of my clients decide to rent after all the analysis. I help them qualify a renter and keep an eye on the rental. Currently, I have three clients who have moved out of town while renting their Chicago homes.
Sorry Eric, my comment was not meant to be an attack on you personally, but is more of a reaction to the “talking down” I’ve heard a lot of realtors doing to sellers recently. Nothing in your post suggests that you have been doing that, and I apologize for implying that.
In today’s market I keep hearing realtors say sellers need to “get real” and “just accept their losses”. I’m just pointing out that realtors and sellers often have different agendas and motivations in a deal.
UptownR, I just re-read your comment and did consider it was more general. So, I am no longer indignant!
You’re right in you’re comments. It’s a bad situation and a good Realtor should be sweating bullets trying to get their head around each client’s situation. You can’t be casual.
I know plenty of Realtors who don’t really know what a short sale or foreclosure is and who would not know how to advise on the buy of sell of the like… and are not finding out.
My comment was snarky and was a reaction to your quote, and I apologize. I shouldn’t take out my frustrations from other realtors and pundits on you. But I have heard a lot of realtors sporting “you silly seller” attitudes in this downturn, and it frustrates me because it’s real money for the sellers to lose. Upon further review, your original comment was actually quite sensitive to this fact.
I agree UpR. In any profession, there are people who take a more arrogant attitude as the expert, but there are plenty of professionals to pick and choose from that meet our needs.
Eric,
Surely you’ve learned by now that a large segment of the populaition just loves to beat up on Realtors. I’m not suggesting that’s what happened here, but it’s a common, irrationally satisfying and addictive diversion for many.
Being a realtor must be a tough job in this market. Aside from the fact that transaction volume is down significantly, it must be very frustrating dealing with sellers who have unrealistic expectations regarding the pricing of their unit in particular.
-You gotta do what you gotta do Bob. This is a vocation. To bump my chest a little, my transactions and sales volume were up this year again. I like to think it’s due to good marketing and planning.
If clients have a good expectation on what may happen, plus, you get creative with research and marketing on both the buy-side and sell-side, people can reach objectives.
-JZ, I have thicker skin than a certain Governor we know.