I’ve been showing homes to a buyer-client lately. We looked at about everything available now on the market through the BLC (Broker Listing Cooperative) that was a close match to what they were looking for. And still they just can’t find the right home yet. So I suggested that if there were any homes For Sale By Owner in the area they were interested in, we shouldn’t overlook those as possibilities. I’ve found that most of the time sellers who don’t have their home listed will be happy to cooperate on a sale if you just ask them. My buyer-clients offered to drive around and see if they saw any they liked. I also talked to a few Broker friends to see if they might know of anything coming on the market soon. One Realtor gave me the address of a home that was For Sale by Owner that they knew of. They said they heard the owner might be listing soon anyway.
So I called the number on the sellers sign and left a message stating briefly what I wanted and asked them to return my call if interested. I got a call back the next day from a man. They said that they were selling the home for their girlfriend and were experienced with selling homes having sold their own home before. They didn’t think it would be a problem selling the home but still they would be willing to pay me 2% of the sale price as long as the sale price was 2% above what they were asking. What that meant to me was they really weren’t paying me anything if I had to add my fee on top of what they were asking for the home. Plus the 2% amout is extremely low and really didn’t value my services or compensate me for my time, expertise, energy and overhead that I have. So essentially…there wasn’t any incentive for me to help them. I can’t imagine another Realtor accepting those terms either but who knows, someone might. It’s a free market. People have a right to do what they want.
The thing that got me though was the price they said they wanted. The price was 15-20% above what I knew the top amount to be for that area for a home like theirs. They said that another home nearby sold for that and they thought their home was even nicer. I certainly didn’t try to debate about values…especially on the phone with someone I just talked with for a couple minutes. I wished them good luck and thanked them for their time.
Just for kicks I looked up the other home later that they had used as a comparable. The first difference I saw was the other home was 30% larger than their home. It was true that the original asking price was what they had quoted me, but the house had two price reductions before it finally sold. The final selling price was much lower than the For Sale By Owner seller nearby had thought.
Sometimes I’m tempted to argue about prices I hear in situations like this, or call them back and give them the facts. I don’t blame people for trying to get as much for their home as possible, but the effect of pricing the home that way is counterproductive to what they are trying to accomplish. The market is an amazing place though. It will tell you if you have your home priced right or not. So they will know sooner or later anyway.
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