Agent urged us to underprice our house now we regret it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your house is such a good deal 50k under what it’s worth I feel like you would’ve gotten more than 1 offer. Maybe not a bidding war but at least 2 offers to consider.

Our friends priced their house $50k under to start a bidding war. They had two dozen families walk through before the open house and received 7 offers. They ended up nearly where they had hoped they would land.

If you only got one offer, then your house is likely priced appropriately. Sorry.

+100. Ding ding ding

Not at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think your RE screwed you. And you have no way of knowing whether it was in fact a pocket listing. One offer in August doesn’t speak to the market. Except the low August market.

I think so too. The days of rabid bidding wars are over. And even in the hottest markets, bidding wars are much more restrained than in the past. OP's realtor knows this and screwed OP into getting an easy sale (commission) for the RE.

OP, our realtor did the same thing to us last September. Convinced us to price it lower than the other two agents we interviewed told us to price it, and lower than she told us it was worth. Assured us this would attract multiple buyers and they would bid up higher than if we priced it higher to start with. We ended up with two competing full-priced offers a few weeks after listing and neither would budge in this market. If we had priced it $35-50K higher, then I - like OP - think they would have just offered that. We accepted one of the offers and moved forward, but that experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

It's more of a buyer's market than a couple years ago and buyers just aren't willing to go over list price except for the hottest properties in the hottest markets. It matters more that they won't go over list than the actual list price, within a reasonable margin. It's also more common for properties to sit for a while. The previous period of homes flying off the market to go under contract within a couple days of listing was unusual. That couldn't last forever.

NP here and I think there is somewhat of an anchoring effect too where buyers see the listed price and that somewhat cements in the value of the house.

[Anonymous]

It is kind of silly to think that if you listed the house higher, some or even most people would have been willing to offer that instead. Most buyers have a hard limit for what they are willing to pay, and in most ranges a 50k difference is a total nonstarter. I’m fact, people filter online by price so it’s pretty likely that your original offer wouldn’t have even known your house existed at a price 50k higher (unless it’s in the 1 million+ range). You are totally ignoring the reality of how people find and bid on homes nowadays.

[Anonymous]

I don't mean to derail this thread, but I have a question for sellers out there. Why do people not seek an appraisal of their homes (would cost about $500 I assume) rather than rely on their real estate agent's assessment?

I am asking because when we bought our current place, we were willing to pay about $15k-$20 more than what the agent recommended. The seller's agent was also his spouse, and the home was initially way overpriced. They had to lower the price two or three times, and have a sale fall through before they accepted our agent recommended "low ball" offer. The bank appraised the home at about $15k more than we signed the contract for.

This makes me think that I'd rather fork out a few hundreds when the time comes to sell than potentially leave money on the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think your RE screwed you. And you have no way of knowing whether it was in fact a pocket listing. One offer in August doesn’t speak to the market. Except the low August market.

I think so too. The days of rabid bidding wars are over. And even in the hottest markets, bidding wars are much more restrained than in the past. OP's realtor knows this and screwed OP into getting an easy sale (commission) for the RE.

OP, our realtor did the same thing to us last September. Convinced us to price it lower than the other two agents we interviewed told us to price it, and lower than she told us it was worth. Assured us this would attract multiple buyers and they would bid up higher than if we priced it higher to start with. We ended up with two competing full-priced offers a few weeks after listing and neither would budge in this market. If we had priced it $35-50K higher, then I - like OP - think they would have just offered that. We accepted one of the offers and moved forward, but that experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

It's more of a buyer's market than a couple years ago and buyers just aren't willing to go over list price except for the hottest properties in the hottest markets. It matters more that they won't go over list than the actual list price, within a reasonable margin. It's also more common for properties to sit for a while. The previous period of homes flying off the market to go under contract within a couple days of listing was unusual. That couldn't last forever.

NP here and I think there is somewhat of an anchoring effect too where buyers see the listed price and that somewhat cements in the value of the house.

I think that's true, too, although that doesn't really explain why the OP has had a fair bit of foot traffic and only a single offer. A $50k "discount" would be significant enough that buyers would notice its better than comps and I'd expect more interest. Whether anyone would be willing to pay above list is another matter. If the OP had multiple offers at list, with no one willing to go up from there, then I'd agree this might be a case of anchoring.

[Anonymous]

Also you end up like this:

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/2115-Military-Rd-22207/home/11232946?utm_source=ios_share&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy_link&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link

Up and down in the price. No idea what is going on here. The house is still way overpriced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't mean to derail this thread, but I have a question for sellers out there. Why do people not seek an appraisal of their homes (would cost about $500 I assume) rather than rely on their real estate agent's assessment?

I am asking because when we bought our current place, we were willing to pay about $15k-$20 more than what the agent recommended. The seller's agent was also his spouse, and the home was initially way overpriced. They had to lower the price two or three times, and have a sale fall through before they accepted our agent recommended "low ball" offer. The bank appraised the home at about $15k more than we signed the contract for.

This makes me think that I'd rather fork out a few hundreds when the time comes to sell than potentially leave money on the table.

Usually it is based on comps. Almost every home I have bought the appraisal comes in at the homes sale price or 10k or 15k higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't mean to derail this thread, but I have a question for sellers out there. Why do people not seek an appraisal of their homes (would cost about $500 I assume) rather than rely on their real estate agent's assessment?

I am asking because when we bought our current place, we were willing to pay about $15k-$20 more than what the agent recommended. The seller's agent was also his spouse, and the home was initially way overpriced. They had to lower the price two or three times, and have a sale fall through before they accepted our agent recommended "low ball" offer. The bank appraised the home at about $15k more than we signed the contract for.

This makes me think that I'd rather fork out a few hundreds when the time comes to sell than potentially leave money on the table.

It's all based on comps.

An appraisal doesn't really add anything other than another perspective because appraisals are based on comps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't mean to derail this thread, but I have a question for sellers out there. Why do people not seek an appraisal of their homes (would cost about $500 I assume) rather than rely on their real estate agent's assessment?

I am asking because when we bought our current place, we were willing to pay about $15k-$20 more than what the agent recommended. The seller's agent was also his spouse, and the home was initially way overpriced. They had to lower the price two or three times, and have a sale fall through before they accepted our agent recommended "low ball" offer. The bank appraised the home at about $15k more than we signed the contract for.

This makes me think that I'd rather fork out a few hundreds when the time comes to sell than potentially leave money on the table.

Appraisal is what people are willing to pay at that time. It is rare that the real estate market is holding steady throughout the year. In the spring, when I was buying, houses were going under contract with mulltiple overs well over asking, but they hadn't closed yet - which is what appraisals are based on. So appraisals can be lower than what you would actually get an offer for. By the end of the summer, houses weren't selling as fast and the market was cooling. The appraisals at that time still reflect a hot market, because they hare based on houses that have closed already.

So an appraisal just doesn't tell you much about how much a house will go under contract for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mean to derail this thread, but I have a question for sellers out there. Why do people not seek an appraisal of their homes (would cost about $500 I assume) rather than rely on their real estate agent's assessment?

I am asking because when we bought our current place, we were willing to pay about $15k-$20 more than what the agent recommended. The seller's agent was also his spouse, and the home was initially way overpriced. They had to lower the price two or three times, and have a sale fall through before they accepted our agent recommended "low ball" offer. The bank appraised the home at about $15k more than we signed the contract for.

This makes me think that I'd rather fork out a few hundreds when the time comes to sell than potentially leave money on the table.

Appraisal is what people are willing to pay at that time. It is rare that the real estate market is holding steady throughout the year. In the spring, when I was buying, houses were going under contract with mulltiple overs well over asking, but they hadn't closed yet - which is what appraisals are based on. So appraisals can be lower than what you would actually get an offer for. By the end of the summer, houses weren't selling as fast and the market was cooling. The appraisals at that time still reflect a hot market, because they hare based on houses that have closed already.

So an appraisal just doesn't tell you much about how much a house will go under contract for.

Sorry - the home's VALUE is what people are wiling to pay at that time. Not appraisal!

[Anonymous]

Just take the offer. You are where you are.

[Anonymous]

What does your realtor say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just take the offer. You are where you are.

This is what I think. A bird in hand and getting the house you want WITH a contingency that you get an offer on your house... better to do it than to wait until next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just take the offer. You are where you are.

This is what I think. A bird in hand and getting the house you want WITH a contingency that you get an offer on your house... better to do it than to wait until next year.

Agreed. And if you lose the other house you may end up overpaying for a different one that checks the same boxes. And then you're basically even but with higher fees all around. It sucks, OP, but not catastrophic.

All that said, I'm assuming that $50k is less than say 8% total value. This would be different if your house sold for $300k instead of $350k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seen several houses relisted at higher prices and only one made sense (they did renovations)

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/2115-Military-Rd-22207/home/11232946

This house just relisted higher. It is beautifully staged but it is small and cramped with low ceilings. We knew the owners prior to the ones selling now.

I think that they are crazy. You are on main street and across from a gas station.

They’ve now changed the price back to the original lower price.