cocktail party

“So, What’s My House Worth??”

With the qualifier that I’ve probably been to less than four cocktail parties in my life, there is an odd parallel between the social banter doctors and Realtors invariably engage in with the public (“civilians”? “non-professionals?” “laypeople”??).

For doctors, it’s people asking them about their aches and pains — or maybe that persistent cough that just won’t go away.

For Realtors, the question that always seems to come up is, “So . . . what do you think I could get for my house??”

Armchair Analysis:  Traps for the Unwary

For doctors, I imagine, it’s especially unnerving to make a casual diagnosis, from very limited data, and risk missing something significant.

Thankfully, no one dies (or gets sued) if Realtors happen to toss out the wrong price range in a social context.

Still, the risks of getting it wrong are surprisingly high without first doing a little lot of homework.

Like, actually getting a look inside the person’s house; identifying and analyzing the Comp’s (“Comparable Sold Properties”); and studying recent trends on the block and in the neighborhood.

Which is why, after offering a broad price range, the safest answers** are, “let me stop by and take a look,” or, “come into the office, and we’ll talk about it” (Realtors sometimes refer to the latter by the acronym, “CITO”).

P.S.  Stocks Trades vs. CMA’s.  What do 1,000 shares of Apple (or Google, or Amazon.com) cost?

The same price — give or take .01¢ — as the last trade a nanosecond ago.

By contrast, a CMA (“Comparative Market Analysis”) for a house is a moving target.  Once a thorough CMA has been done, its “shelf life” is at best 3-4 months, after which it will be superseded by changing market conditions.

**Or, Realtors could just do what Zillow, Trulia, etc. do:  throw out an uninformed, crazy-high number so that everyone likes them (at least until they discover the reality).

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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