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Selling a house: Can I trust my real estate agent? Does she use psychological moves near end of her contract?

  • I'm selling a brand new spec home in southwestern Illinois, near St. Louis. It's listed at $189,000. Most current houses in the neighborhood are listed slightly above this price. I will not take less than $170,000 for it. When my realtor first did a walk-through, she said I should easily be able to get over $200,000 for it. Later, after showing me comparables, she suggested I price it at under $200,000, which I did. I listed it at $199,000. A few months later, on her advice, I dropped the price to the current $189,000. She has 2 months left to go on her contract to sell the house. Only recently did she do an open house, the first one. After that she called me and said the following: that she's worried the house is starting to get a reputation as being cheaply made. She commonly refers to the light fixtures and doors. However most of the reasons she gave in the past for people not making an offer on the house is because "the floor plan didn't suit them." She also says most people like a full basement (it has a partial basement) and a fireplace, which it doesn't. She said not having these would lower the price by $20,000 just for not having a fireplace. She told me 9 people went through it during the open house and none of them liked it. It could be true. However I suspect she is using the opportunity of the open house to pressure me into drastically lowering the price. I feel she is trying to make a psychological play to damage my confidence about the house in order to lower my expectations and drop the price significantly so she can make the sale before her time runs out. I asked how much was drastic? She said, $150,000. A $40,000 drop in price only two months after I lowered the price by $10,000? Do you think this is a power play on her part? I know it won't affect her commission much and it would be much easier for her to sell if I lowered it that much, so I feel she has a huge incentive to pressure me. She has good advertising, but I will probably change realtors after the two months are up, at which point I will probably take the house off the market for about two weeks then lower the price another $10,000, to $179,000. So far once couple was very serious about it and made a vague verbal offer in the "170ish" range, though they later changed their mind. In your opinion, should I trust my realtor, or is she trying to use psychological stratagems to get the sale before the time runs out? Also, it seems to me that any particular house would not get a "bad reputation" except among realtors talking amongst themselves. What incentive would they have to badmouth a house to customers? It would be like shooting themselves in the foot, right?

  • Answer:

    The MLS where I work has the number of days the house has been on the market right there on the showing sheet that buyers and agents can both see. I would want to see comparable sales that would help demonstrate to me that the price should be so much lower- but of course it does depend on how soon you want to sell the property. I have been in real estate sales since 1978. The most common thing at an open house is to find a buyer for a different house- it is rare for the actual buyer to happen to walk into the house at an open house. So when she said "none of them liked it"- that may have been a harsh way to say it- but it is what I would expect before it is even held. Change agents if you wish. You need to be able to work well with your agent and trust them. So you sound as if you need to change.

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Dk

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If you have lost confidence in your real estate agent or have doubts about her ability to serve you in the way you would wish, by all means you should allow the contract with her expire, without changing the current sales price. Make sure you read the contract you signed with her as in most real estate contract there is a period that even after she is no longer the real estate agent she might be able to extract a commission from you, especially if a client she introduced to the property eventually buy the house. You might check to find out this time frame. I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck. "FIGHT ON"

loanmasterone

You have some good reservations there. I would dump her ASAP. Once you are free and clear, I would ask a couple of realtors to come over and talk with you about the value of the home and what they will do for you if you list with them.

richard t

trust is #1 in real estate, selling or buying; call her broker and ask for another agent from his office. next thing; offer immediately, your house for sale for 215k, with a lease option............ [no cash out for you, but higher than your highest price] can guide further

kemperk

Please read the "Exclusive Right to Sell" agreement you have with your agent. This is to let you know exactly what this agent plans to do for you. It will also tell you that after the end of this agreement between the agent and seller, if she has a right to the commission 6 months later if you should change to another agent. Most sellers do not realize this so I am letting you know so you will understand if she starts steering you wrong again. The agent gets half of the 6% commission and her commission is affected when the actual sale price (not listed price) is done. Then question her as to how long she has been in the industry if you have not already done so. Why? Because she doesn't know what she is doing and is costing you money now and will be later if you keep listening to her. An agent should know the market and show you comparables within a mile radius of your home. This is how you and your agent arrive at a listing price that will be within a certain range of what you expect. Her comments about your house is unnecessary and is violating the real estate code of ethics. You might want to send a Certified Letter to your agent, agents Broker and to your local Board of Realtors. This puts her on notice that you are not accepting of the comments she is making to possible Buyers and other Agents in regards to you home. Her Broker will find out what she is doing and may guide her into not making comments in the future and the Board of Realtors will investigate and put a letter into her file, reprimand her and her broker, or fine them both for not upholding their fiduciary responsibilities. Please do not worry about this coming back at you. This agent is doing you a disservice and may have done this to others. You can stop her for any future comments or bad advice to you or any other Buyer she may have. It's consumer protection and is there for everyone.

bridal connection

Everything that she is saying could very well be true. The only problem I have is the pricing. Without actually seeing the comps that she based her value on, it's impossible to say what the fair price is. However, the lack of features (fireplace, etc) SHOULD HAVE BEEN figured into the original value. She would have known what the comps had. Im guessing the house is worth somewhere in the 160-170's. (Just a guess). However, to get the listing, she told you want you wanted to hear-that it was worth 200,000. She got the listing and is now trying to get the price down. Again, just a guess. What did the other realtors you interviewed say the value should be? You should have interviewed at least 3 agents/

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