Disagree with your realtor on listing price?

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Disagree with your realtor on listing price?

Deadrick Colbert
Investor · Easley, SC · Member since 2013 · 248 posts · 51 votes

Has anyone ever disagreed with your realtor on how much to list a property for? 

I am getting ready to list a property. It's in a great neighborhood. According to the realtor, the problem is that there are lower comps that have sold in this subdivision so she thinks I should list it cheaper than I would like to. Let me explain the comps in the neighborhood. 1 sale was a foreclosure that needed repairs and sold below market value. 3 other sales were houses that are located on the main road before you turn into the subdivision. These houses on the main road were built 10 years after all of the other homes inside the subdivision and were built on a slab foundation and they are smaller houses but their address does say that they are in the same subdivision. Another house sold for close to what I want to list for and the agent says that the house sold 5k over the listing price.

My house has more sq ft than most all of the other homes that have sold, as well as an outbuilding that I am leaving. I'm also willing to include all stainless steal appliances. 

I understand that folks can make an offer higher than the listing price, especially if we get multiple offers on it but I'm more inclined to ask for a higher listing price. The market is super hot right now. I just don't want to be greedy and it not sale and us have to drop the price.

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Russell BrazilBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
9y

Every seller thinks their property should be listed higher than it should. Most of the time an honest agent is correct. Jason suggested interviewing other agents, but there are plenty of agents that will buy your listing by agreeing with your unrealistic high price just so they can get the listing.

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 18k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    9y

    It's your house -- ultimately, the listing price is your decision.

    The bigger question is whether you trust your agent or not?  Sounds like you might not trust her judgement, in which case you should talk to a couple other agents who know the area well.  If they concur with your assessment of the value, perhaps they'd be better suited to list the house.  If they concur with her assessment of value, you might want to consider that she knows what she's doing and trust her.

    That said, either way, it's your house and you make the final decision on the listing price.

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  • Paul Bowers
    Real Estate Investor · Macedon, NY · Member since 2016 · 251 posts · 290 votes
    9y

    If you truly believe you are right, list at the higher price.  The agent ultimately works for you.  That being said you need your agent to have some faith in your price and still work to market and show the property being confident when they talk with potential buyers.  I'm guessing there are some agents that want to list at a lower price to get the quick commission and try to make the difference up in volume.  You also need to be prepared to admit if you're wrong in a fairly short period of time and swallow your pride and lower the price.  You say your market is super hot, if you don't have a solid offer early on that probably means you were wrong.

     How much of a difference are you talking about?

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  • Jeshua Patrick
    Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 298 posts · 232 votes
    9y
    This is why it's really important to have an agent you trust explicitly. I have experienced multiple types of realtors and thankfully I have an amazing realtor. The worst thing you can have is a realtor that tells you what they think you want to hear. This type of realtor is lazy and will not pull a sufficient amount of comps. If you think you may have this type of realtor, ask a couple other realtors for comps and see how they compare. Go with the one who was the most thorough and honest even if it wasn't what you wanted to hear.
    1Reply
  • Deadrick Colbert
    OP
    Investor · Easley, SC · Member since 2013 · 248 posts · 51 votes
    9y

    @J Scott The realtor is very successful and a high producer. My biggest concern is the comment that I should list it cheaper for a quick sell. I understand not wanting to price it to high but don't want to under price it just to sell it a few days quicker.

    @Paul Bowers I think you are dead on about the quick sell for commission and I can understand that. Regarding the hot market, the local newspaper even ran a story 2 weeks ago about housing was currently selling 15-25% above listing prices. I am only talking about a difference of 8-10k in listing price.

    @Jeshua Patrick Good advice.

    Thank you all for the feed back.

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  • Brian Pulaski
    Flipper/Rehabber · Montgomery, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Keep in ins, if you read house is truly better than these other comps, an appraisal should reflect this by adjusting the house value up or down. Have you and your realtor discussed the pricing discrepancy? 

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  • Deadrick Colbert
    OP
    Investor · Easley, SC · Member since 2013 · 248 posts · 51 votes
    9y

    @Brian Pulaski Yes, we have discussed it. She said she would take a closer look at it and get back to me but that was several weeks ago. She has a photographer set up to take photos of the property on Tuesday, so I will bring the topic back sometime this week.

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  • Brian Pulaski
    Flipper/Rehabber · Montgomery, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Deadrick Colbert several weeks and she has not gotten back to you, seems very unprofessional. I would probably square this away before Tuesday. Argue your side but remember she works for you and it is your house, not hers.

    1Reply
  • Jeshua Patrick
    Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 298 posts · 232 votes
    9y
    Deadrick Colbert my realtor would never leave me hanging for a few weeks and he is a top ten producer nationally.
    1Reply
  • Marcus Auerbach
    Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    9y
    Sounds like an unprofessional agent. We usually turn listing meetings in 48 hours and our specialist (Amanda) spends about three hours to establish fair market value. It's a very data driven approach. We then sit down with the seller to determine the strategy. Start high and then lower after two weeks, start right at FMV or start purposly below to create competition in the first 3 days and drive the price up. Lets say FMV is 310k, we could start at 319k and hope someone will jump on it, we could price it right at 310, or we would price it at 300 to create urgency. (We don't do 299, because we want it to show up in the search from 200-300 and 300-400, if you go 299 you loose the upper bracket.) If you are looking for a professional agent I can look up a top producing Keller Williams agent in your area and check his/her training and background.
    1Reply
  • Jeremy HartPro Member
    Residential Real Estate Broker · Blacksburg, VA · Member since 2016 · 155 posts · 67 votes
    9y
    Using a foreclosure as a comp? No appraiser would consider that an arms length transaction, it should be dropped as an outlier. I can see using the others, particular if you're looking within a radius of a mile or two of the house. If you drop the foreclosure from the equation, does that change your list price? What's the difference between her price and yours? (Sorry if that was mentioned above, I might have missed it)
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  • Russell BrazilBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
    9y

    Every seller thinks their property should be listed higher than it should. Most of the time an honest agent is correct. Jason suggested interviewing other agents, but there are plenty of agents that will buy your listing by agreeing with your unrealistic high price just so they can get the listing.

    [email protected]301-893-4635Podcast Guest on Show #192
    District Invest Group545 Reviews
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    5Reply
  • Deadrick Colbert
    OP
    Investor · Easley, SC · Member since 2013 · 248 posts · 51 votes
    9y

    @Jeremy Hart It's not a huge difference. Only 8-10k, but that's still money I'd like to keep.

    0Reply
  • Deadrick Colbert
    OP
    Investor · Easley, SC · Member since 2013 · 248 posts · 51 votes
    9y

    @Russell Brazil Thanks for the perspective.

    0Reply
  • Michael Noto
    Real Estate Agent · Southington, CT · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y

    @Deadrick Colbert How far are you guys apart on the listing price?

    0Reply
  • Deadrick Colbert
    OP
    Investor · Easley, SC · Member since 2013 · 248 posts · 51 votes
    9y

    @Michael Noto 8-10k.

    0Reply
  • Maurice D.
    Coppell, TX · Member since 2015 · 485 posts · 310 votes
    9y

    Price isn't the only red flag. Two weeks is neglectful.  I'd fire her.

    2Reply
  • Susan K.
    Real Estate Agent · Palm Beach Gardens, FL · Member since 2017 · 205 posts · 124 votes
    9y

    Just my 2 cents - Your realtor is a "successful and high producer".. we have one of those in my area and I have witnessed this guy that has a fairly large team under price at least 2 properties.  One being on my sister's street.  The seller had multiple offers on day 1.  Hummmm... what does this tell me?  

    I reviewed this property myself, talked to the owner right before listing with "successful high producer".  The long and short of it is this seller would have still received an offer and most likely 15K higher still within 30 days.  The area is hot and not far from University of Florida, but far enough as to not be disturbed by rowdy students.  

    My suggestion is don't commit to this realtor, talk to others and get their input.  Also, consider getting your own appraisal for private use.  Not sure the cost in your area but I've paid 350.00 for one on my previous property and it was well worth it. 

    Keep in mind most areas are "sellers" markets right now.

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Princeton, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Deadrick Colbert  To me it is simple.  If we are talking about $8,000 - $10,000 they should have just gone with your price.  The methods that agents use to determine price are not that precise.  I mean the technical definition of "precise".  The sample size is not near big enough.  The houses are not consistent enough.

    On the other hand this is irrelevant. "Several weeks" is a complete non-starter for me. Believe me, they would call me back before then. At the end of week two, it would have been all over Facebook, Nextdoor, Yelp, and the HOA e-mail list, that they under valued my property and then took a ridiculous amount of time to start to list it. I would probably start the posts by asking for recommendations for another agent.

    I think this is the first time I have ever disagreed with @Russell Brazil. Let me start by saying, I have no doubt Russell is great at figuring out the price homes should be listed at. I have also been at a Realtor MLS training where the instructor said a Broker's Price Opinion should not take more than 20 minutes.

    Many agents use comps that they have never driven by much less gone inside.

    1Reply
  • Justin B.
    Investor · Gaithersburg, MD · Member since 2013 · 660 posts · 441 votes
    9y

    This thread has really gotten into 2 separate points.  The first being disagreeing with your realtor.  Often times realtors (good ones) offer up a price they know will sell and be comparable with comps.  They want to make sure that the appraisal is going to come back at a price that won't derail the deal.  The good ones know what they are doing.  However if you are WAY off, you have 2 choices.  Get another realtor or go it alone.

    The other one is your realtor doing a good job.  No communication for weeks is not the mark of a good agent (usually).  Regardless of price, is they are not communicating and taking weeks to do things, I think it's time for a new agent.

    2Reply
  • Deadrick Colbert
    OP
    Investor · Easley, SC · Member since 2013 · 248 posts · 51 votes
    9y

    Thanks everyone for all of the great advice. So I have somewhat of an update on the situation. I contacted my realtor and after telling me the mls system was down for the past day, she came back and said that she would stick with the original price.

    So, I contacted 2 other realtors but did not share with them my experience with my other realtor. I simply asked them if I were to list my home for sale, how much would you advise listing it for. One realtor quoted me a listing price that was 10k higher than my realtor said and the other realtor quoted a price of 12k over what my realtor said. So originally, I thought that I could sell for 8-10k higher than my realtor had said. According to these 2 new realtors that I talked to, I was pretty close. One is saying 10k higher and the other is saying 12k higher.

    This brings me to another predicament. I don't want to create any drama, but after hearing this new information from the other realtors, I think it might be best for me to have one of them list it at the higher price. I have not signed any paperwork with any agent, not even the first agent that I was using but I do already have an appointment for a photographer to come out and take photos of the house. I hate to be a jerk and not use the first realtor that I had planned on using but I think it's for the best. What would be the best way to call things off? Should I just tell her that I'm going to have another agent list it?

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  • Mike CumbieBusiness Member
    REALTOR® · Brockport, NY · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9y

    @Deadrick Colbert

    At the end of the day it's your property and you have to be comfortable with who you are going to have selling it. You have to trust that they are going to work in your best interest. In reality the listing price is just a number. It's not like a good agent won't prep everything create buzz and push offers off of each other to get the best price. One problem they do have is if it is listed too high, then there is only one offer that comes in, they can't play them off each other.

    If someone really wants us to list a home at 20% higher than what it will fetch, sure I'll do it (They will know what I think it will go for and then they decide). Our sign sits in the yard, we get calls on other things, no big deal. I won't spend a whole lot on other advertising (newspapers etc) but the sign and presence is marketing for me. So I am sure you could find an agent to list it at 5K more than your highest without much problem, is that going to drive any traffic though? Each market is different and there are times to use different strategies, find the agent you think can deliver.

    As far as calling it off, I would just reach out and tell her to cancel the photographer you are going to look at other options. That way you can start a conversation about your goals and she doesn't spend too much money preparing for something that won't come.

    Good Luck!

    1Reply
  • Jeshua Patrick
    Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 298 posts · 232 votes
    9y
    Deadrick Colbert I would simply call the original agent, tell them you have decided to go another route, and apologize for wasting their time. Another poster mentioned services offered. This is a very good point. One thing I would do before signing is ask to see some sample listings and ask about the quality of their photos. In the digital age photos can be the difference between someone requesting a showing and skipping over your listing. Look for an agent who does professional photography and photo editing as this will maximize your showings.
    0Reply
  • Michael Lucero
    Rental Property Investor · Pasadena, CA · Member since 2016 · 164 posts · 149 votes
    9y

    Im sorry but i dont understand what the issue is. If you want to list it for 10-12k higher, tell them to do so. Of course they will do it and you will find out if they are right or wrong based on the sell through. If there are any issues, get a new agent. 

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  • Jeshua Patrick
    Rental Property Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2017 · 298 posts · 232 votes
    9y
    Michael Lucero you are right; however, I think the issues are twofold for the OP. First, his agent's recommendation created some trust issues regarding their reliability based on information he already had. Second, the realtor appeared to be too busy to get back to him in a reasonable amount of time, leaving him hanging for almost 3 weeks. Both issues are easily cured by finding another agent. I think the biggest problem is that the OP wants to be nice even though this is business and he just needs to realize that you don't have to be "nice" to not be cruel. I know from personal experience that that can be a hard thing to learn for some of us.
    0Reply
  • Michael Lucero
    Rental Property Investor · Pasadena, CA · Member since 2016 · 164 posts · 149 votes
    9y

    @Jeshua Patrick got it. Given the issues with the agent just move on then. You said it perfectly well with the nice/cruel comment. It's business and the person is working for you, if they are subpar to your standards, find someone else, there are tons of others willing to do the job.

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