The One Mistake That Can Cost You Thousands When Hiring a Realtor

What’s the one biggest mistake you can’t afford to make when hiring a Realtor? Well, it’s your lucky day, i’m about to give you maybe the best advice I can offer when it comes to selling real estate. It’s a little piece of info that most Realtors won’t tell you.

So here’s the story, a prospective seller calls a couple Realtors and asks them to come by and evaluate their home. The Realtor comes in does his walk through pulls out the compareables gives his price and walks out the door, never to be seen again.

As i’m chatting with that Realtor a couple days later at the office, I ask, “How did that evaluation go? Did you get the listing?” No he replies. They went with someone else who had a higher price.

This is without a doubt the biggest mistake a seller can make when hiring a Realtor. Never hire a Realtor because they had the highest list price! There are a number of reasons for this.

Firstly you should hire a Realtor because you know them, like them, and trust them. When a Realtor comes in and gives you a crazy high price you get all excited and sign on the dotted line. The truth is, most of the time that price is too high. You’ve now over priced the home, chances are it will sit on the market, you will then have to reduce the price, you’ve now lost that initial buzz your home gets in the first couple weeks. Buyers start to wonder what’s wrong with the home, Realtors are thinking the same thing so they decide not to show your home. You’ve now scared off a number of potential buyers and ultimately if your home does eventually sell it sells for less than it should have had you priced it correctly to begin with.

Sadly in the real estate industry many Realtors will come in and suggest an over valued listing price in hopes to sway the seller that they are the ones to hire. It’s what we call “buying the listing.” I know Realtors who have built their business off this method. The Realtor bids the highest, gets the listing, tells the seller 2 weeks later they need to reduce the price, you’re locked into a listing agreement with that Realtor so there’s little you can do.

Even if your home never sells chances are that Realtor will pick up a buyer off it or perhaps meet your neighbour who then decides to sell their home too. So it’s a win win for the Realtor and a lose lose for you.

So sellers, please if you’re hiring a Realtor, get some price quotes but whatever you do, don’t hire a Realtor just because they have the highest list price. It will be the biggest mistake you’ll ever make and it could cost you thousands.