Selling your Big Bear home in this market does not need to be any tougher. The real estate market conditions are scary enough these days.
So you can imagine my surprise when I went out on a listing appointment recently and the seller did not want to have their property listed on the open MLS. Nope, they just wanted me to know about the home, that they wanted to sell, and that they would pay me if I brought a buyer.
Their plan was to let 5-6 of the top agents in the area know about their intent to sell, offer them a higher than average buyer’s agent commission, and hope that they run into somebody that will want to buy.
While I was somewhat flattered to be of the the 5-6 agents they told, I think their strategy is not the best way to get their home sold. I understand that they are trying to save a couple percentage points on the commission, but for 1%, or roughly $13,000 (this was the difference), they could have the property listed in the MLS and have the full marketing force behind the sale. Seems to make a lot of sense to me. Seems like that additional 1% of money would be well spent.
There are over 350 real estate agents in the Big Bear MLS. That is a huge sales force that will not know about the property. How does that help you as a seller if you are not listed in it?
Let’s face it, the more people/agents that know about a property, the better the chances of the seller getting the price and terms they want.
It’s all about one’s motivation to sell.
I have said this in the past, if you absolutely do not have to sell your home, then right now is not the time to try. Why? Because the price, terms, conditions, & frustrations of the current real estate market that you must accept will be unacceptable to you if you don’t have to sell.
In this case, one of the seller’s concerns was that they did not want to let a lot of people in neighborhood know that they are selling. I consider this to be just one of the many sacrifices sellers have to make in this market if they want to sell.
They also did not want to lose any money on the sale. Unfortunately, right now a lot of the people who are selling are losing money. If you bought a property in Big Bear in the last 3 years and have to sell now, chances are you are going to lose money on the sale. It just is was it is.
It really all comes down to the motivation. If you are motivated as a seller you will do what is necessary to get the property sold. You have to right now.
I need every possible tool & advantage I can use right now to get a home sold. Hamstringing the sale in any way is counter productive. In the end, this home will not get sold for top price in the quickest amount of time, if it sells at all. Now that’s kinda scary!
Happy Halloween everyone.
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