Buying the Listing | The Group at RE/MAX First

The Objective of most Realtors ...

The objective of a GOOD agent is to get a listing agreement in place so the agent can get the home prepped and the marketing completed properly to get the home sold for the most money. And by the way, this is the objective of most realtors. They genuinely want to see you succeed in the best way possible. They will risk your disapproval by telling you what you NEED TO HEAR, regardless of what you WANT to hear.

But this is difficult to do for many, most realtors want to be people pleasers. There is a difference between a genuine people pleaser that wants to see great things for their clients and the deliberate chameleon agent who tells the client what they want to hear, painting a pretty good, but still believable picture of the money in the home. This is the problem. It's typically an illusion, smoke and mirrors, snake oil.

They promise the most money… so they can get you under a listing contract, then work you down to a price where it will actually sell.

Buying the Listing

NOW, in reality, one of the reasons why this tactic (which by the way, IN THE INDUSTRY is called BUYING THE LISTING) works really well, is because it lines up perfectly with the number one seller mistake that we discussed earlier. You see, our home is great, so it will sell quickly. YES, but only if it is priced right, and the age-old adage of “WE CAN ALWAYS REDUCE IT LATER, LET'S TRY IT AND SEE”, while it sounds like a sound strategy, doesn’t take into account TIME ON MARKET, and the massively negative affect that has on eventually agreed sale price and thus fair market value. It is the number 1 killer of getting the highest price for your home possible. And the chameleon agent know this, they just don’t care, at least not enough to risk not getting you under a binding contract. They will cost you thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of dollars in lost equity. Like day-old bread, a home that has been sitting on the market is not worth as much.

NOW, I should actually talk about 1 other chameleon agent here, who is well-intentioned but misinformed. The really nice, YES man agent. They don’t like to rock the boat, they don’t like confrontation, and they will back down easily because they DON’T WANT TO RISK YOUR DISAPPROVAL. But they can cost you money, time and stress. The agent that goes along with what you say and how you say you want it done. You see, a skilled agent will know what needs to be done, and when. They know the process that works, and they won't let you self sabotage without at least trying to dissuade you. They understand the counterintuitive nature of real estate (NOT JUST IN PRICING) and they know the COMMON AND THE COSTLY MISTAKES that sellers make every day. They will not sit back and let you self diagnose because you looked at homes for sale on the internet and you know that these homes are priced at X and so you can price at X. They know that even though you have seen homes that were not professionally photographed and saved on realtor fees, or did not declutter their home first, or didn’t remove the 13 cat trees. That these properties, even if they do sell, are sabotaging themselves while burying their heads in the sand, But that they don’t just allow their clients to do that they will risk their clients' disapproval telling them what they NEED to hear, not just what they WANT to hear, and they will likely make more work, not less, and they will ACT more like a trusted advisor then a best friend. And by the WAY and this is a BONUS. Your BEST FRIEND is your WORST ENEMY. Your best friend will tell you that the purple shag carpet walls and bright orange countertop are COOL and UNIQUE and not a problem.

A real best friend and a trusted advisor will be CRUEL TO BE KIND. HONEST TO A FAULT. AND ACTING IN YOUR BEST INTEREST, NOT “ACTING” LIKE THEY ARE INTERESTED.

So remember, if you loved that agent that just really appreciated your unique tastes and told you everything you wanted to hear, and GUARANTEED you a higher price than anyone else... run. Reputable Experienced businesses seldom go with the highest or lowest bid, they go with who they trust and respect, the results vs who TELLS A BETTER “STORY”. A good agent will play a bit of a devil's advocate looking at and getting you to look at things from different angles and perspectives. The better-rounded your perspective is, the better prepared you're going to be, and ultimately get the best results.

Next, let's talk about what many sellers do to waste time and money trying to get more for their home. It's incredibly common that people think this way, and it is exacerbated by HGTV and so many reno shows, who only tell you part of the whole picture. REALITY TV is seldom real. I have several second-hand experiences with different types of reality real estate related TV shows, having friends directly involved with or even on these shows, and guess what, it was largely made up, or ALTERED TRUTHs.