Since you’re the client, paying for services, and making the decisions, why aren’t you blaming yourself…?

Yeah, you are right, 6 weeks ago she could have sold the place. Now…it’s a lil harder. If it’s under 450k you are still okay, just mark it down 10%, which is about right, and hope Uncle Ben lowers the rates in the next week or two. Anything with conventional mortgages should sell a lil better once the rate comes down. Not really a rally, just a tiny bump before banks start dumping even more homes. So far the banks have held steady on their prices reducing things slowly. You just have to be lower than they are.

I think your first mistake is asking a realtor to price it (no offense to any realtors, some are not experienced at pricing in a down market). Take the pricing into your own hands. Get an appraisal from an experienced appraiser. Ask for as many comps a possible to get a good idea of where pricing is, where it was and where it looks to be going in your neigborhood. Then price ahead of the curve 5-10%, depending on how fast prices are declining in your area.

Bsharma, I agree with what you are saying. However, I think you are minimizing what an appraiser does. Besides giving you a value and a pageful of comps, they also do a market analysis, which is what is needed in this case. Though, you’re correct, I am sure an experienced realtor could do a much better job than the one in question.

I think we are all in agreement that the current realtor is just pulling numbers out of there a@$….

I think your first mistake is asking a Realtor to price it

I know this may offend some, but I absolutely agree with above statement. Every time I let a Realtor choose listing price, I regretted it, and when I did the comp’s and chose the listing price, it saved me tens of thousands.

One of many examples:

In 2003 I had a Realtor strongly advise my small condo in the far north Chicago suburbs should list for 160k. I could tell she was lying and just wanted her commission FAST.
I then did the comp’s and concluded it should list for 175k.

I had read a book on the “hidden side” of Realtors which explained how they often under-list a home by 5% to yield a quick commission, knowing that it only reduces their commission by a few hundred dollars, but it costs their client tens of thousands

Anyway,
That Chicago Realtor argued with me for 2 hours, and to compromise I finally agreed to list it at 170k.

It sold in 24 hours, for 170k. Also the bidder initially offered 160k. My Realtor suggested I counter at 165k. I ignored that advice also and countered with “the price is 170k, pay it or go away!”

Savings for my ignoring Realtor’s advice: ten grand!
I should have listed that condo for 180k, I could have saved more.

Another thing I’ve seen Realtors do: cherry pick the comp’s so buyer sees a filtered comp list that misleads buyer to list at price Realtor recommends, so Realtor gets commission faster.

I’ve also worked with good ethical Realtors who would never do any of these underhanded things.

One more thing. I had a half-dozen Realtor friends tell me I was CRAZY to sell our San Diego condo in mid-2004, telling me it would continue to appreciate in next few years.

That condo is now worth 25% less, and most of those Realtors had to change careers once they saw real estate market COLLAPSE.

LOL

She’s a realtor – what did you expect.

I am not sure what area you are living but the condo (including townhouse) market is dead. There are only few activities throughout the county. This is attributed to extremely limited number of first time home buyers because of the lending restriction.