Sep 8, 2007

Florida Realtors who test the market may receive a failing grade.


Realtors who agree to test the market and list a home over it's real market value, may be making an unwise decison. This becomes increasingly true as conditions continue the same in this current Florida real estate market.

In the past an associate may have had the option to add a few dollars to the suggested sales price to appease a seller without too much concern about affecting the potential sale.

This liberty does not exist today. The current market is not forgiving. Homeowners who list their homes higher than the market suggests risk reducing the already limited numbers of buyers who may be interested in their home. Buyers today are offered more choices than ever before and, more than likely, they will have purchased a well priced home long before the agent and seller realize their error and start reducing the price.

The continuous increase of homes being offered for sale, with the number of homes sold decreasing, is an indication of at least 2 points. First, a large group of sellers have yet to recognize that the days of incredible appreciation have ended and secondly, a large section of real estate professionals have never experienced this type of market and are clueless as to how to properly advise their customer base.

Lack of experience and training have real estate agents confused as they arrive at their listing appointments with real data that clearly indicates that the home has not appreciated since the owner purchased it within the last few years and in some extreme cases, may now be worth even less then the owner paid. They hate to walk away from a listing so they give in to magical thinking and take the listing at a price that they know they can never get for the seller.

This type of testing will only lead to frustration and undue stress to both seller and Realtor.
Those agents who are confident of their abilities will walk away from a potential listing that has no chance of selling at the seller's desired price, devoting their time and energy instead to those sellers who value their knowledge and professionalism.
Related Florida real estate views:
- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

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