A key to our success in real estate has been to effectively describe what is REALLY happening in the current market conditions, and helping our clients position themselves to get the most equity possible when selling, and if they are buying (especially in a hot market) to know what value the market is bearing for a property so they don't end up paying too much.
I get the call many times from clients and the people they refer to us is that they saw a property (typically a for sale by owner) that just dropped their price $20,000 and they are calling me to find out if that is a good deal. First of all, if a price drops that much, it was probably WAY over priced in the first place and a big drop like that still might not have them in the current "market value" based on what buyers are currently paying for similar properties.
The experience of selling over 2,500 properties gives me the insight so many agents don't understand. I can actually "SEE" what is really happening in the market and give my seller clients the best advice to get then next buyer that buys. You see, every buyer you miss is a possible buyer, and you may have just helped your competition sell their house. In fact, many sellers are losing their buyer and the opportunity to get the most equity possible when they overprice their property. While they are overpriced, the seller who started out overpriced has dropped their price several times, and is now price correctly... so they steal the next buyer. Now the overpriced seller has to wait for the next buyer. We don't know when that next buyer is coming, AND the buyers are still only going to pay fair market value. If it takes overpriced listings to drop their price to the right price to sell, then there will always be "right priced" properties in the market and the overpriced properties will soon drop the price enough to get a buyer and steal that buyer from the next, new overpriced listing.
One key element to our success and helping our clients get the most equity possible AND make sure they don't underprice their property is to accurately evaluate the market before we put the For Sale sign in the yard. Once we determine what the property will most likely sell for (based on all of the current 'SOLD' activity for similar properties in their area) we position ourselves to be the most competitive property on the market. That, by the way, doesn't mean the cheapest.. and we don't want to be the most expensive either.
Once we determine the best position to HIT THE MARKET and we go live, then we need to watch real time activity to determine if we hit the market at the right spot. I want to share a perfect example of what an experience agent can provide a client to be their real estate specialist and help interpret the market to get the most equity possible.
This is a sample of a market review I just sent to a seller today. We analyzed the market. The market is definitely a hot market at the time I did this review, and I was able to predict that we would probably have about a dozen people through the property in the first week. Even in this HOT market, we have had the most traffic over any of our competition, and as of the day I printed this report, we had not gotten an offer from anyone. Reviewing the market and making strategic moves that make sense is how we get our clients more equity. In this particular case, we now know the seller is not leaving any money on the table. In fact, one price adjustment will most likely result in a sale sign in their front yard.
How well do you know the market? How well does your real estate agent know the market? Do you have friends or family that chose the wrong agent, and really didn't know what was going on?
There is no time that should be wasted "giving this agent a try" and if they haven't truly analyzed the market and they are pulling numbers out of thin air.. it is time to get a real estate professional that can open your understanding of what is really happening in the market and where the best position is to get the most equity. That sometimes means we are getting ten's of thousand's more than we would have thought. It is all about "supply" and "demand".
Take a look at the type of information we provide our clients to understand the market better than most real estate agents.
Every property is different, and market conditions change from area to area, type of home to type of home, and neighborhood to neighborhood. It takes professional experience and advice to determine the best strategy for your property. You should never "take a stab at it" or "see what happens".. you can do that from time to time, however make that decision with smart, accurate information.
Contact Brad Korn before you make any decisions about buying or selling real estate. My experience of 100 sales per year and over 2,500 properties in my career puts me in the top 10% of all agents in the KC area and in the top 15% of all agents in the surrounding 7 state area.
