Another Seller Learned Not to List with a Discount Agent

Maintenance free front yard is unusual for Tahoe Park real estate.

There are many people in the world who try to save money in all sorts of ways but hiring a discount agent is often not the way to go when it comes to Sacramento real estate. It is common knowledge among the top achievers in the industry that sellers who focus on the commission can get taken to the cleaners in the middle and on the back end. They are penny wise and pound foolish.

If they save $5,000 on the commission, they’ll give it away in home repairs, credits to the buyer and further price reductions after the buyers try to renegotiate. And it might not close on time or blow up. On the other hand, when sellers pay full commissions to the top producers, they often sell the home for more than list price and make even more money, even though they are paying more in commission.

Full service Sacramento real estate brokers cost more than a discount agent for a reason. Because they tend to make their sellers more money than a discount agent would do. I pound this into my seller’s heads over and over, but some either don’t believe me, because they are not in the business 24 /7 or they have to find out for themselves before they will trust.

Some just get fed up and decide that trying squeeze a nickel here and there is hurting them more than it is helping. Such was the case with the seller of this home in Tahoe Park. They had it listed for 6 months with a discount agent. The list price was lower than my contract. That agent could not sell it. The owners finally contacted me, and I sold it in 4 days for more money. At the worst time of the year, too, early December.

The discount agent did not do these people any favors. That’s a polite statement. We just closed escrow yesterday. A clean straight forward transaction. The sellers are thrilled with me. And to top it off, I sold this house from my wor-cation in Hawaii. I wasn’t even in Sacramento at this time of year. I’m as remote as you can get from California.

If you’re thinking about selling a home in Sacramento, you might ask yourself how does a Sacramento Realtor who is full service sell a home in Sacramento when she is on vacation in Hawaii that a discount agent could not sell for 6 months no matter how hard he tried? Then call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. No matter where I am, I will list and sell your home.