I was recently speaking with a client who I did an appraisal for, she asked me, should I trust my agent? She was concerned that her agent had over priced her home because she wanted the listing. Upon speaking with her she said that she believed that the agent suggested the higher list price and stated that the other agents just wanted to list and sell it quick to get the commission. Believing that this agent could sell for more she got the listing. Now 8 months later the home is still on the market and has had price drops and the agent is now suggesting another which will bring her home in line with the listing prices that the other agents had originally suggested.
She now feels that all agents can’t be trusted however I stated that she should have had a pre-listing appraisal by a non-bias independent appraiser who is not paid based on how much the home sells for. I’ve now completed the appraisal and it looks like she could have sold her home 8 months ago if it was priced where the other agents said for her to list at.
I don’t think the agent should be blamed as they can only pull unadjusted sales that have sold and suggest a list price based on the sales that they think are similar. At the end of the day, a sell will be dead in the water even if it gets past contract but is above the appraised market value.
My question is how does a homeowner avoid situations like this? Can an agent be trusted to determine market value? Should she have gone with an average of all of the agents? I have always told people to get an appraisal to determine market value however they are always trying to save the $350.00 – $400.00 which ends up costing them much more.
More about pre-listing appraisals:
Does anyone have any suggestions that I can give my clients that don’t want to pay for a pre-listing appraisal?
appraisalsbymichael 