house listing

CuriousKiddosMama · July 2014

We are supposed to be listing our house next week with an agent that is a part of a group. Before it went active, the agent was supposed to contact us with new comps so we can decide on a sale price. Yesterday I emailed her because we also had one more exclusion and to ask if she had run the comps. I got an out of office reply, then I got a one sentence- you are good at X. I'm really kind of annoyed this morning and am not sure if I'm overreacting or if I should be contacting the team leader she works for.
The exclusion we found out we needed to add was our wall-mounted tv (we were out house hunting this weekend and another couple had that listed). Now this annoys me that we had to add it because she sat with us in our dining room from which you can clearly see our TV. Plus she did a walk through of the house. Now if a couple tells you they have never sold before- wouldn't it be great if you mentioned that these are some things you probably want to exclude just so there is no confusion?
The second part is I don't really think she re-ran the comps. We met with her originally a month ago, and stuff has sold since then. She wanted us to list it for 136, but we felt that was way too low. We have upgraded this house a lot, several of those things this year and we felt that she wasn't considering that at all- all she was looking at was price per square foot of others in the neighborhood. We have new wood floors, new solar screens, we have a pool (I know those don't add much value, but still) a shed in the back and a backup generator. Doesn't any of that add value?
I'm really temped to call and talk to somebody else just so I feel better about going forward with this because this morning after thinking about it last night, I really don't. I'm sure we are probably one of her less expensive accounts and so she isn't going to make a ton off us- but we are also paying a premium (7% fee instead of 6%) to use this realtor and so I don't feel like my requests were too much. I also don't want to piss her off so showings don't get scheduled or something stupid like that. Any realtors on here or those of you with experience with this lately- what should I do????? What would you do?

CuriousKiddosMama · July 2014

Thanks, that's what I was feeling. We are in Texas- so the pool is a plus during our summers, especially since our community doesn't have one.
She just went soley off price per square foot, didn't compare anything else. Which I looked at the listings that are active right now, and some have laminate but none had the solar screens, generator or pool. We are one of 2 in the neighborhood that has a pool. I also understand that we may be a bit over built, but if that's the case then tell me that. There are listings for 150 right now in the neighborhood and I can't see why they can demand that and we can't. Especially if they are selling in 8 days like the one 3 doors down did. Ugh, I will call the office and see who I can talk to.

hoffse · July 2014

I've obviously never listed a house but that would really annoy me. My basic feeling is that realtors tend to make waaaaaay more per hour than most other professionals given the amount of leg work they do for their commissions. A 7% commission on $136K is still over $9,500. At my billing rate I would have to bill over 45 hours of work to earn that much, and I'm at a firm that charges a bit of a premium for my time. Virtually every client who gets bills from me that are that high are corporate clients doing mergers or very complex estates that require a lot of tax research. I don't think I've ever sent a bill that large to an individual.

For me, the fact that realtors get commissions that high is kind of insane. Hell I think my own rates are kind of insane, but I don't set them.

So yeah I would absolutely get a second opinion or perhaps be a bit more firm with her. She stands to make nearly $10,000 here, and that's not money she should just be blowing off. Even if she ends up splitting the commission, it's still a very high rate for the amount of work you've asked her to do.

I'm not trying to disparage realtors at all - but I think their rates are one of those things that people just accept as being normal without considering what the true value of a realtor is. It's funny - I've read lots of forums about designing/building because H and I contemplated it for this house and will continue to contemplate it for our "forever" house. People very often dismiss architect fees as being way too high when designing/building a house. Many won't even contemplate it. But they don't think twice about what their realtor is earning when they are selling their old house.... often it's more than what the architect earns per hour.

als1982 · July 2014

hoffse said:

I've obviously never listed a house but that would really annoy me. My basic feeling is that realtors tend to make waaaaaay more per hour than most other professionals given the amount of leg work they do for their commissions. A 7% commission on $136K is still over $9,500. At my billing rate I would have to bill over 45 hours of work to earn that much, and I'm at a firm that charges a bit of a premium for my time. Virtually every client who gets bills from me that are that high are corporate clients doing mergers or very complex estates that require a lot of tax research. I don't think I've ever sent a bill that large to an individual.

For me, the fact that realtors get commissions that high is kind of insane. Hell I think my own rates are kind of insane, but I don't set them.

So yeah I would absolutely get a second opinion or perhaps be a bit more firm with her. She stands to make nearly $10,000 here, and that's not money she should just be blowing off. Even if she ends up splitting the commission, it's still a very high rate for the amount of work you've asked her to do.

I'm not trying to disparage realtors at all - but I think their rates are one of those things that people just accept as being normal without considering what the true value of a realtor is. It's funny - I've read lots of forums about designing/building because H and I contemplated it for this house and will continue to contemplate it for our "forever" house. People very often dismiss architect fees as being way too high when designing/building a house. Many won't even contemplate it. But they don't think twice about what their realtor is earning when they are selling their old house.... often it's more than what the architect earns per hour.

Not that I disagree with your thought that real estate agents are often overpaid, your argument that this particular agent is pocketing $9,500 isn't likely the case. His/her agency would be splitting that 7% with the buyer's agency, making her agency's share closer $4,750, of which I'm of the understanding the individual agent themselves actually collects about half of that, or about $2,375.

jlaOK · July 2014

Did you interview any other realtors? I think it's definitely worth it to sit down with at least 3 before deciding on one. Treat it as a job interview - you are hiring a person to do a job for you where you will pay them $Xk. If you are already getting a bad vibe from the realtor, it may be a sign that they aren't the person you should be working with.

As far as the issue of your floors, solar panels, pool, etc. adding value - I'm not sure that they all do. The wood floor should but I'm not sure about the rest. I put the rest in the same categories as a deck, new windows, etc. they may be a perk that will interest buyers but they aren't going to add monetary value to the purchase price.

I'm not a realtor but I just sold my house so I just went through the same process you are going through.

CuriousKiddosMama · July 2014

We went with this group because they are the #2 group in our city and have won numerous awards. I did call and talk to the head agent this morning and he said he will be personally reviewing the comps. He said the pool should add up to 10k, and the generator up to 3k- so that would be more along the lines of what DH and I were thinking at 150. He did warn though that for some reason appraisers in our city are behind times on the upswing in the market so that even if we do list it at a higher rate and it sells, we may not get it because the appraisal may come in low. He said that may have been her concern although she didn't express that to us. So we will see what he says after looking at comps.
This is frustrating..... the silver lining I"m trying to remember- we found the house we want this weekend! It's a new home which is awesome, in the neighborhood I love with great schools and lots of fun amenities to keep a growing boy happy. I just got the pictures from the design center, so I'm going to check those out now, and hopefully DH and I love all the selections that have been made.

MommyLiberty5013 · July 2014

Sounds like you have a good company, but maybe not the best agent in the group. I would see if you could swap to the agent with the most sales in the past 6 months. If there are a few, then can you interview each of them via phone?

Here's the thing, DH and I learned the hard way...if you're uneasy about the REA now and you haven't even listed yet, it's all downward from here. It's not gonna get better. H/She revealed his/her true professional colors.

hoffse · July 2014

I understand they may be splitting it, but they also might not. She and her agency could get the entire thing if she lines up a buyer. That happens frequently.

I just think the rates are completely nuts. I know our realtor/agency is going to get around $9,000 in commissions for the sale of our house, and they've spent maybe 15 hours total with us. Total. The seller's agent has done even less work - we put in an offer on the second day it was listed, and she and her agency is also getting a $9,000 commission.

Ultimately my point is that she should not be blowing you off. This is real money, and she needs to respect that it's her job to at least kind of earn it.

CuriousKiddosMama · July 2014

@hoffse- I do agree with you about how much they make. We also have a buyer's agent to help us buy the new house. She is going to get a commission for taking us out on Saturday for 5 hours. We went to a couple model homes on Sunday and found the house we want to buy there. But I know she will work for her commission on the negotiation end when we meet up again on Thursday to put in the offer! It is crazy though how much they can make on a deal.

Ultimately what ended up happening. I called and talked to the team leader of the group. He personally reviewed the comps and ended up agreeing with us, that it was going to be listed too low. He recommended 157 (quite a difference from the 136 she wanted us to list it at.) If it doesn't sell for 157, that's okay, but in my mind it's better to start high and drop the price in a couple weeks that to leave $ on the table. He also talked with us a bit about what does and doesn't add to the house, and what upgrades he found in other houses in the neighborhood. So I now feel really good about going forward with this. Thanks for helping everyone. I sometimes worry that I"m too pushy when I think I'm right, so I wanted to check with you all first!

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