Realtor options - weigh them with me

[emoflamingo]

We met with 2 more realtors after the guy we met with in the first place made us want to jump off a cliff (easy for H, hard for me lol). I know which way I'm leaning but I want to hear what other people think.

Realtor #2 would list our house for $69,500. She only had positives to say about our house (pointing out two places we needed to touch up paint and that was it). She did her homework, though that it was hard to find comps in our area and that we would have minimal loss. Really emphasized the point that we would probably have to either get full asking cost and pay closing or get less and try to pay half the costs, but she wouldn't really let us lose our shirts.

Realtor #3 is actually a husband-wife team. Husband actually sold our house to the people we bought it from (and the realtor we bought it through works for the same company) 12 years ago. They want to list it for a little less ($68,000) but they use a professional photographer (value added perk, so we aren't out extra money) for pictures for the listing AND they make a website for each house they list. So we will have a website with 1234ourstreet.com showing as many pictures as the photographer takes on it as well as every little minuscule detail we want to emphasize on it. The agency also does home warranties from when the listing goes up to closing date (which we have experience with this company and their warranties -- we bought through the same company and this was included in our purchase) so that if they do an inspection on something (like the plumbing or the furnace) and find a lot of damage and it needs replaced, we only pay the $60 deductible and the damage is repaired.

They were both, personality wise, very similar to us and we could work with them well, so that is moot. And they will both charge the same commission.

Do we list with Realtor #2 for higher and hope she markets it well (I haven't looked a lot to see how she markets, but she did emphasize the internet presence in her talk with us) or do we list with Realtor #3 for lower and hope that their marketing skills sell our house faster?

[emoflamingo]

There are a lot of houses for sale in our range. Some of them in different areas, but a lot of them listed. Ours has the disadvantage of being a 2 bedroom vs. the 3 that some of the ones in our area are, but our house also has a privacy fence, a shed, a wood deck, vinyl siding, etc. I don't know that the average buyer would see an that the extra 300 square feet of extra bedroom and go "but that other house was a little smaller and nicer," you know? And the house has new plumbing, garage door opener, water heater, etc., but I know that the furnace and the air conditioner are the things I'd be concerned about having die and we'd be screwed. I need to ask about the price. I know the wife is the "follow up" person so I'll probably talk to her in a day or two.

[emoflamingo]

May 22, 2012 17:41:34 GMT -5 @jimbooo said:

can you look them both up on the web and see who's work you like better (coming from a buyers point of view)?

With nothing else stated, I'd likely choose #2. Seems like they are a little more in depth unless you left out more info in #1.

I looked at the other realtor's listings and her photos don't do the houses justice, so as a buyer, I would definitely be drawn to the listings from the husband-wife team just because the photos are night and day. Here's an example that they have (and pardon their spelling lol):



There wasn't much more to our meeting with the other realtor, there were just more "perk" with the husband-wife team.

[InBetweenDays]

I'd probably go with #3. $1500 seems like it could easily be made up with good photos and good marketing.

[sjh722]

How's your net looking?

I agree with agent #2 - if that's an entry level price range in your area, you're probably going to end up paying closing costs. Will you be able to do that at $68,000? Ask agent #3 what their thoughts are on that.

You can set the price - if you go with agent #3 because you like them and their marketing better, you can say that you'd like to go with them, but list at the $69,500.

[tarheels]

I think professional photos are worth it. And you get to set whatever price you want - they just suggest - so I'd go with the #3 team.

[sierramist03]

I'd say #3 because I know how much people look around on the Internet anymore and that's a big selling point plus the warranty sounds very good and a nice perk.

[emoflamingo]

We ended up asking why he wanted to go at that price range and he said that he feels people looking up to $70,000 will see $69,500 and go "let's look at the ones priced at $68,000 instead." and that pricing lower after no offers come in at the higher price, it'll still be in the same range and the same people will see it. He said he would be willing to price it at a higher price, but that he thought it would all pan out either way.

We will probably end up with a small loss -- however, the area we want to move to, the houses are priced about $10,000 lower than in the past. Our interest rate will also be cut drastically since we bought at what most people would call the boom (didn't happen here, so we also didn't have the crash) so our interest rate is pretty high on our current mortgage. We have a good chunk of money in savings to pay for any loss, plus whatever is left for our new house, so we're prepared to pay a little to move. The pros of moving at this point (need more space, getting into a better district for DS#1 -- eventually DS#2 as well, moving closer to my SIL who is our sitter, etc.) outweigh any loss we could have. Even if it is $4,000 like the downer realtor #1 said.

[emoflamingo]

Yep, door #3 I guess. I kind of figured which way people would lean and I was really doing it myself but needed some kind of verification.

[lolc]

I say realtor #3.

We also ended up hiring a realtor that had experience with our house in the past (he was actually our sellers realtor when we bought the place). We knew he was good at marketing and he is with a reputable company that also offers warranties and hires photographers. His wife is also an interior decorator and offered us some tips free of charge. It helped tremendously and the pictures taken really show the house well.

Long story short: We are overall very happy with him. We listed mid February and had our first offer the first week of March! Definitely glad he is our realtor.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I like realtor #3.