Seller’s FAQs
Posted
Chen & Modi Team’s
Seller’s Most Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How important is it to be familiar or comfortable with the company you hire?
A: When you stop and think about it, we are certain you realize that a company doesn’t sell a home; it’s the individual agent’s activities. The question you need to ask yourself is: Do you feel that we can sell your home and maximize the profits that you’ll receive?
Q: Should we list high; we can always come down in price later?
A: We understand you may be tempted to list high and leave room for negotiating, but have you considered the problem that creates for you? Most Qualified Buyers won’t even bother looking at properties that are priced to high. Would you rather have a bidding war on your home or not have any opportunity to negotiate any offers at all?
Q: Why do some agents claim they can get me more money?
A: Again, several possible answers:
• An agent that will list your property overpriced; assumes they can take the listing now. Then they will start beating you up on the price week after week because your property isn’t selling.
• Or, they are telling you whatever you want to hear just to take your listing because they know that by having a listing, potential buyers will call them. Some agents will do this to then switch the buyers to other, better priced properties where they wilt get paid a full commission.
• On they simply aren’t paying attention to the market.
•Now are any of these the type of agent that you want working for you?
Q: Why wouldn’t we save the commission by selling it ourselves?
A: This is a common thought among sellers and you need to be aware of the total number of choices buyers have on the market today is 9,016 homes, and last month only 837 homes actually sold. That’s a 10 month supply of homes if no other homes come on the market, and last month about 2,349 homes came on the market. What’s worse for the seller is the fact that only 2% of all For Sale by Owners actually sell themselves and 98% are listed and sold by Real Estate Agents. You need to ask yourself, can I afford to have only a 2% chance of selling my home?
Q: I have a friend in the business, shouldn’t I use them?
A: We can certainly appreciate this, and in this market almost everyone does. So ask yourself some critical questions:
Do you absolutely have to sell this home or are you just looking to do your friend a favor?
As the seller you need to consider this as a business decision and ask yourself which agent I will financially benefit from hiring.
If something goes awry would I want it to impact that friendship? Will they be honest with you about pricing or just tell you what you want to hear?
Q: What do you do to sell homes?
A: That’s another valid concern. Are you aware that there are two kinds of Real Estate Agents working today? There are Active and Passive agents out there. We are active agents, meaning when you sign the contract, we will spend my time actively marketing your home to the public and the other active agents in town. You want an agent that will work actively and aggressively to get your home sold, right? What specific questions do you have after reviewing my plan of action?
Q: How long should we think it over?
A: We can understand that making a logical decision is important. So during our appointment tell me what it is specifically that you would like to think over, because two minds are better than one, and having an open discussion is very important to me to help you achieve the goals you have set for yourself in selling this home.
Q: Will you cut your commission, other agents said they would?
A: This is a great question and we can tell you why this makes us nervous. There are a lot of desperate agents out there, and if an agent doesn’t have the courage to stand up to you regarding their own worth, how strong could they possibly be, defending you, and the price we set on your home. We are going to show you upfront, how tough we are going to be on your price, by being tough on my commission.
Q: Is it important to have an agent who sells a lot of homes in a certain area?
A: The most Beneficial reason to choose agents like us is that we have homes for sale all over the area. Meaning when you sign the contract, we can expose your property to potential buyers from all over the area. Now isn’t that the kind of marketing exposure your looking for?