“East is East and West is West” From experience, here are two good rules of real estate negotiation: Rule #1. Never argue the “comp’s” with the other side. A comp, or comparable sold property, is a similar, nearby home that has sold recently. To determine fair market value, Realtors and appraisers alike typically look for...Read More
Want More Showings? Dangle a Fatter Carrot In a culture — and economy — where getting the best possible price is practically a religion (if not a budgeting necessity), why should home sellers consider paying their Realtor a higher commission? Because they might actually make more money that way. That’s because Realtors who charge more...Read More
How to Tell if it’s a “Fire Sale” Realtors hear it all the time (often from neighbors or prospective Sellers protesting about the value of their home): “Oh, they gave it away.” “The Smith house? That was a fire sale.” “They sold for way too little.” How to Tell Whenever I hear the foregoing, I...Read More
Throwing the Runner-Up a (Very Hollow) Bone It’s not uncommon for homeowners, in the course of interviewing agents to list their home, to be deadlocked between two (or more) agents. What then? To sew up the listing, I guarantee that at least one of the agents will promise that, if the homeowner hires them, they’ll...Read More
“Jilting” Buyer #1 for Buyer #2 Topic A at this morning’s Exceptional Properties meeting was how to handle a deal that’s been verbally signed off on, when another, significantly stronger offer materializes before all the necessary signatures are in place. The scenario’s relevant because, in today’s slower market for upper bracket homes, by the time...Read More
Top Three Ways to Tell Is your agent hoarding listings? The practice — well known to Realtors, but not to clients or the general public — consists of accumulating listings not with the intention of selling them . . . but using them to troll for clients interested in buying other, more realistically-priced homes. It...Read More
