Realtor Knows Best On Listing Price

Q: I’m about to list my house for sale. My Realtor has recommended one list price, and I’m comfortable with it, but I want to list about $10,000 higher so I have room to negotiate and might even make more money. My Realtor is refusing, but don’t you think people will come see the house anyway and just make an offer?

A: This is a very common misconception. People often think you need “negotiating room” or that you might even get a higher price if you raise the listing price. In reality, you’re just likely to miss the best opportunity to sell your house and have to make up for it with big price reductions later. I’ll explain why.

The time when the most people will see your house is when you first list it. You grab the attention of every person who’s been looking and waiting for something new, plus the people who happened to start looking just as you went on the market. That’s when you make your first impression. Like with any introduction, if it doesn’t go well, you’ll have to take extraordinary measures to make up for the bad impression you’ve left. If people see you as being unreasonable on price, they’ll think of you that way no matter how much you lower the price in the future.

The truth is, and every Realtor has learned this lesson many times over, your Realtor is doing the right thing by “refusing” to raise the starting price. It’s easier said than done and I commend her for standing her ground. If you feel very strongly about it (meaning, if you feel you are more educated about real estate than the expert you’ve hired) then you might be able to find a Realtor who is willing to list the house or who has a different opinion of its value. It might work out perfectly, but then again, you might sit on the market straight through the winter and have to lower to your recommended starting point. If the market takes a turn for the worse after the elections, you could have to lower it even more.

All of that said, try to remember why you picked the Realtor you’re with now. Hopefully it was because you trust her expertise in a field in which you are not familiar. Trust her guidance and list more aggressively. Get your house sold and move on to the next phase of your life. And remember, if you’re priced right, you might have to negotiate a bit on price, but not a tremendous amount. Of course, there are always people who lowball offers, but the more serious buyers will respect that you’ve priced well and they’ll send you a reasonable offer.

Talia Freedman is a Realtor with Signature Southwest Properties
— This article appeared on page 3 of the West Side Journal