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How Much Will Your Sacramento Home Seller Take?
A common question asked by Sacramento real estate agents and directed toward the listing agent is how much will the seller take for that home? Now, you see, I could swear that there is a listing price attached to that home, but maybe the print is too small to read. I know, we could outfit buyer’s agents with those big honkin’ magnifying glasses like you see in photos of Sherlock Holmes. Or, maybe we should attach spectacles to a chain they can keep in their pockets or wear around their necks to whip out for such an occasion?
When an agent asked me that question yesterday, I immediately suggested he look in Zillow. I was being facetious, of course, but he didn’t realize it because I made that suggestion by projecting a lot of excitement and enthusiasm in my voice. I can’t help it. I have fun at work; and I like to make people laugh. Except the agent didn’t laugh because he didn’t know I was joking. I mean, let’s face it, Zillow is the last place for any reasonable much less professional real estate person to look for a market value, but that doesn’t mean the public doesn’t go there because they do. The professionals, on the other hand, use MLS for comparable sales to determine market value.
But it’s such an innocent question, an outsider might presume. How much will the seller take? It is . . . for a person who is not a real estate agent. And I suppose that question is OK for an agent to ask as well if they can get an answer. As my husband is fond of saying: a guy can ask 10 women to go home with him at the bar and the first 9 might slap his face. But that 10th . . .
I asked the buyer’s agent why he would ask me, the listing agent, because I am not the seller. I don’t make decisions for the seller and all that I really know for certain is the seller will accept list price. Not to mention, it’s a breach of fiduciary to utter any kind of different answer.
Well, he didn’t want to “waste time” writing an offer the seller would reject. What? Isn’t that the name of the real estate game? An agent writes an offer on behalf of a buyer and a seller either accepts, counters or rejects? And there is one way to find out what a seller will do, too. If you want to know how much the seller will take for that home, there is one sure-fired, tried-and-true-method to get that answer. You write a purchase offer and send it to the listing agent.
The Best Sacramento Listing Agent Asks Questions Like This
It’s a sorry state of affairs in this real estate market when a Sacramento listing agent holding a pending offer questions another agent with a pending listing to inquire if her sellers are in contract with the same buyers. Yada, yada, yeah, it’s confidential information but agents can still confirm the fact. I’m just saying it’s sad that an agent nowadays is put in the position of having to ask the question in the first place. It’s part of doing a fiduciary for the seller.
Sure, most transactions are straightforward and everybody is honest and ethical. Unless they are not. I’ve run across so many screwball escrows lately that my head is practically spinning. There was the guy who tried to buy a home and actually finagled his way into a contract when he had no money, no job and a police record. Then, there were the many buyers who wrote multiple offers all at the same time, locked down the properties and then subsequently canceled them all. Not to mention the cash buyers whom, at the last minute, developed cold feet.
There are so many ways that working with an experienced agent in Sacramento can pay off for a seller that I can’t even count them. Because of the volume of business that I do, I see a tremendous amount of purchase offers pass through my computer every year. I pay close and careful attention to each one of them, too.
Somebody asked me the other day, a seller whose home I’m listing next month, if I was too busy for her. I don’t know if she got that idea from a competing listing agent or if she came up with it on her own, but I am never too busy, and that’s the secret to my success. I don’t take on more listings than I can handle. Like I replied to this seller, a while back I was handling 70 to 75 listings at a time and doing a damn fine job if I say so myself. My clients agree, too. Today, my active Sacramento home listings number closer to 25, because the market is much slower.
The thing is I use my 40 years of experience to help my sellers. That’s an inherent quality they can’t buy or easily find elsewhere. My clients expect me to go beyond the norm. If I receive paperwork that makes me ask questions because I spot a red flag, you can bet I will get to the bottom of it. I see that action as part of my job and in good conscience I cannot let these types of questions go unanswered.
Canceled Sacramento Home Listings
Nobody loves Sacramento home listings so much as when you take your home off the market. This is sort of the dirty little secret and underbelly of real estate. Almost the minute your home listing is canceled in MLS by your real estate agent, your phone will start to ring. It’s a fact, jack. And it’s not the fault of your Sacramento real estate agent. So, don’t blame her. She will have already removed your telephone number and your name from MLS, but there are ways for others to find it.
You might wonder, wow, how did my home become so danged popular all of a sudden! And why didn’t I know about all of these top-notch real estate professionals who can sell my home in record time for top dollar? Where have these real estate agents been hiding? They sound so wonderful and competent and aggressive. Why, they say my former Sacramento real estate agent was a lazy-ass jerk who didn’t do jack-crap, which is why my home did not sell and why I was forced to hang my head in shame. But if list my home with them, I will be showered in gold and riches beyond my wildest dreams. Holy toledo!
I know it might be tough for you, dear reader, to realize that some real estate agents might prey on sellers of canceled Sacramento home listings. It’s how they make a living. And there’s nothing wrong with it; it’s the approach that many sellers object to. These agents figure at least a canceled seller wanted to sell once so they should call them when the listing either expires or is withdrawn or canceled from MLS. In fact, there is an entire industry built around canceled listings. Real estate agents can attend seminars and take special training on how to approach a seller of a canceled listing.
When these agents call sellers of expired or canceled Sacramento home listings, often they have a prepared script in front of them. The agents are doing telemarketing calls and reading the script to you. It’s persuasive, and it works or these agents wouldn’t do it. They are focused on one thing. Talking you into listing with them. They may or may not have any experience, as you get both experienced and brand new agents making telemarketing calls to sellers of canceled listings.
My advice to you is to realize these chasers of expired listings are likely to do exactly what your agent already tried to do — they aren’t offering you anything new or revolutionary. If you like your agent, list again with your real estate agent. If you don’t like your agent, call another agent who has been referred to you, but don’t fall victim to empty words.
