Selecting a Realtor....the acid test #2

Many REALTORS believe that having a lot of signs hanging, will bring business. They believe this because it seems to be true. Apparently, people looking for a REALTOR believe that the more listings a REALTOR has, the better the REALTOR will be....THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE MORE LISTINGS A REALTOR HAS THE BETTER THE REALTOR WILL BE...PERIOD. In fact, the opposite might well be true. I know that people looking for a REALTOR to list their property are highly swayed by the price opinion given by the REALTOR. So a REALTOR who wants to get a lot of signs out there to look popular and in demand, goes into a potential listing with a high price opinion....The thinking is, after some period of time, I will get the client to lower the price. In the meantime, a couple of months have been lost, the property is not being shown, and the listing is getting stale. There is definitely evidence that the longer a property is on the market, the lower the relationship between sales price and initial listing price. In this case, the higher the REALTOR's initial price opinion, the lower is the probability that the seller will maximize what he or she is going to get for the property.

So the question is, does the REALTOR with all of the signs have the most aggressively priced properties, and more importantly, how well do the REALTOR's listing sell?. Does the REALTOR with a whole bunch of signs have a whole bunch of signs because the properties are not selling? AH-HA!!! In my opinion, sellers looking for a REALTOR should:

1. Be looking most seriously at REALTOR's sales....not the REALTOR's listings. If the REALTOR has 20 listings and no, or very few sales (I know of at least 3 people in that boat), think twice. Wouldnt you be better off with a REALTOR who currently as just a couple of listings who sold five or six listings this year? I can tell you as someone who has sold all her listings this difficult year, that there are a lot of excuses...tough market, etc., but the reality is that a reasonably priced property will sell in any market. Mine do.

2. Consider strongly a REALTOR with some of the lower price opinions, and a well presented rationale for the price. That REALTOR is probably being very realistic and is most concerned with selling your property. He or she knows that you will be talking with other REALTORS, and a realistic price opinion might lose him or her the listing. Furthermore, take seriously a REALTOR willing to walk away from your potential listing....that is a very strong statement for most REALTORS to make.

I honestly believe that if the initial price is too high, the Seller will end up getting less for the property ultimately. The initial pricing and, therefore, speed of sale is the Seller's best friend. Anticipated price reductions are not.