Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, there are a lot of myths floating around out there about how a real estate transaction works. Today I want to go over three of these myths.
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When I’m with a client, whether they’re a buyer or a seller, I tend to hear quite a few things they truly believe about the world of real estate that simply aren’t true. Today I wanted to debunk three of these common real estate myths.
1. Agents want you to pay a higher sales price so that they can get a higher commission.
Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, a good agent is out to get you the best price possible. A $10,000 difference in sales price is only a $150 to $200 difference to the agent involved. Honestly, if your agent is that concerned about their commission, you probably need a new one.
2. Listing your home at a lower commission will net you more profit.
If you’re just looking at that one specific item on the transaction—the commission—that’s true. However, there are many items that go into how much money you get from your home sale. Pricing your home correctly, marketing it properly, and negotiating the best deal for it will generate a far bigger profit than just beating an agent’s commission down to save a percentage point or two. In fact, most agents who would willingly accept a lower commission are the ones who are desperate for your business, which is never a good sign. As in all industries, you get what you pay for, and an agent that comes dirt-cheap is probably inexperienced or not successful enough in filling their hours. Would you really want to trust an asset as important as your house to someone who’s incompetent at their job?
“
Always choose an agent who’s
honest with you.
”
honest with you.
3. Choose a listing agent who will tell you the price you want to hear, or the highest price.
There are agents out there (I work with some of them here in Columbia) whose strategy is to tell the seller the highest price they can reasonably think of to get them excited. If your house is worth $250,000, we can sell it for $300,000! The problem with a promise like this is there may be four other houses on the block just like yours that are priced at or have sold at $250,000. This agent will conveniently neglect to tell you about this while they’re making ridiculous promises like that because they’re simply trying to fool you into signing with them. Price your home correctly up front and pick an agent who will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
Stay tuned for my next episode, where I’ll debunk some more common real estate myths. In the meantime, if you have any other questions or video topics you’d like to see me discuss, feel free to message us on Facebook. We look forward to hearing from you!
Stay tuned for my next episode, where I’ll debunk some more common real estate myths. In the meantime, if you have any other questions or video topics you’d like to see me discuss, feel free to message us on Facebook. We look forward to hearing from you!
