Pricing to sell takes thought, research
Q: When we get ready to sell our home, should we pay for a professional appraiser or just rely on Realtors’ suggestions? Can we call brokers if we’re really going to sell on our own? — P. I.
A: It’s unfair to mislead agents by asking for a free market analysis on the pretense that you’re ready to list the property, but you can be up front about it. Explain that you’re going to try for-sale-by-owner, and ask if they’re willing to confer with you on that understanding.
Even an oral opinion will require an hour’s preparation time on the Realtor’s part, and more time traveling to your home and inspecting it. Some brokers won’t want to donate their time and expertise. Others, though, will welcome the chance to see your home and make a friend, just on the off chance.
Although most agents can make excellent recommendations, particularly in neighborhoods they’re familiar with, watch out for the few who will suggest almost any price just to secure your listing. A few others may name a low price for a quick and easy sale. Your best bet is to interview at least three and compare their opinions.
A professional appraisal is particularly valuable when you’re dealing with unusual property, in which case it’s hard to find similar recent sales. It can also be useful while you’re negotiating with buyers. Although it’s simply an estimate, albeit an informed, skilled one, the buyer may accept it as an impartial, almost scientific proof of value -- as the courts indeed do.
If you do hire a professional appraiser, make it clear you need only a simple written report. You don’t want to pay for a 30-page dissertation with floor plans and photographs of the neighborhood.
Q: Regarding a recent letter on whether a homeowner should remain in the home when it’s being shown, we looked at a house, an interesting Midcentury house on a cul-de-sac in the perfect neighborhood. But the owner was sitting in a chair in the great room watching TV the whole time.
The effect? We could not stop and imagine changes, furniture, lifestyle ... anything. And that was the most important room in the house.
We felt we could whisper in the basement, but, otherwise, we used our eyes to communicate, and hardly even walked into bedrooms, baths or secondary places. It was a house that really needed work, but we simply could not talk about it.
We got out fast and whispered in the driveway. It kind of broke our hearts — we really wanted to like that house. Eventually, it did sell ... but not to us.
The whole thing about it being hard on the owner — it was hard on the Realtors and interested buyers. Even during open houses, it is easier to look at a house with other prospects and their agents wandering around than it is when the owner is silently holding court.
How could it have been avoided? If the seller finds it hard to get out (due to age, health, transportation), does someone take them somewhere? When is their next doctor’s appointment?
Her agent could have put multiple overlapping viewings together. Some folks might have complained about it, but it would have been better than what we experienced. The owner could have been taken to lunch and to the mall, and returned to multiple offers. It was an opportunity missed.
Thanks for the opportunity to discuss it. — D. P. A: Thanks for sharing the experience.