The Sacramento REALTOR with the Highest List Price

Do sellers always pick the Sacramento REALTOR who proposes the highest sales price? Not if they’re smart they don’t. They should pick the REALTOR they most trust, like and who has the experience to do the best job for them. But what if they do take the REALTOR with the highest price and that REALTOR just happens to be me? That’s what happened this summer, and I wasn’t feeling really good about the fact that price might have been the main reason I was chosen to list that pool home in Carmichael.

I’m not underestimating my experience because I’m certain my decades in the business was a motivating factor, but I had the sneaky suspicion that if I had suggested a lower sales price, that seller might not have elected to list with me. It doesn’t mean I will sell out my ethics or tell a seller a price that I don’t think the seller will get just to obtain that listing. That’s not how I work. I do try to get the seller the highest price possible, though.

The thing is home pricing is so variable. There is no single list price, actually. There is a price it should be listed at, which is not necessarily the price a seller expects to get. There is a price a buyer might offer, which is not necessarily the price at which the home may appraise. There is market value and there is appraised value, and the two are not necessarily the same thing. It’s more of a strategy, mixed with science and emotion.

Much of my pricing is based on how the home feels emotionally to me. I know that might sound a little new-agey and touchy-feely, but buyers make offers based on emotion. I try to look at the home through the buyer’s eyes, and then I turn that feeling into a dollar figure, followed by a way to justify that price to an appraiser. It’s a different approach than most REALTORS use, and it’s been very successful for my sellers.

There were REALTORS in my real estate office who thought we had priced that Carmichael pool home too high. It didn’t have upgrades. It wasn’t remodeled. Some of the appliances didn’t even work. Other REALTORS at the listing presentations had suggested sales prices that were tens of thousands of dollars lower than mine. My suggested sales price was the highest. From a sole listing viewpoint, the price didn’t make sense. From a buyer’s viewpoint, though, it did.

We sold that Carmichael pool home at list price. It closed last week. So, while I always tell a seller do NOT pick the REALTOR who gives you the highest price, in this particular instance they might have just done that and it was not the wrong thing to do. Still, I hope they chose me for my willingness to always do what I believe is best for them and not because my suggested list price was the highest.

I don’t intend to beat out a competing agent by suggesting higher prices during a listing presentation. I do what I believe is right.