I recently read an article written by a homeowner who decided to sell her house without any help. I get it. Her ideas about how much real estate agents charge seems to be pretty high, especially in this market with fewer home sales and more real estate agents.
Anyone who can not negotiate an average to below-average commission rate from a real estate agent may not be the top negotiator that they think they are. They may not even be able to negotiate the best terms for themselves if they have to go up against a buyer’s agent.
This homeowner has previous experience selling a house but some of us who are Realtors have sold hundreds of houses.
She put the house on the market during a time when they were selling quickly. During that same time, we were putting houses on the market on Thursdays and usually had multiple offers to choose from by Monday. It was actually hard during that period to not sell a house.
Her house didn’t get any offers during that period. She decided why the house wasn’t getting any offers and spent tens of thousands of dollars fixing it up. She put it back on the market and it still did not sell.
Deep down I don’t think she really wants to sell. As a professional I know exactly why the house did not sell. It is a lovely house but competing houses in the same price range and neighborhood are larger and have more bathrooms. It is likely that the owner will spend money building an addition and adding a bathroom.
If she was my client I would show her how much comparable houses in the neighborhood have sold for and encourage her to price hers accordingly. While it is true that her house is extra special and holds many memories a buyer might not see it that way.
I think the owner of the house is doing the right thing because she doesn’t really want to sell her house. If she worked with an agent the agent would have to sell it.
