After thinking about perspective lately, I wanted to share with you the ways that our agents’ experience and perspective can help you navigate real estate.
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Today, I want to talk about perspective and address some questions buyers and sellers frequently ask me.
I didn’t know that we could volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House. My team was down there this week, and we thought that we were going to be helping the people staying there by cooking them breakfast, among other things. But the reality is they ended up helping us more than we help them. It really puts things into perspective when you worry about making a mortgage or car payment, but there are people out in the world fighting some really big battles.
That’s why you hire us when you have questions about real estate — you hire us for our experience and our perspective. I have an amazing team of people with ample experience. Four of our team members have graduate degrees, which is absolutely unheard of in the real estate industry. Between all of us, we probably have hundreds of years of experience.
Drawing on that experience, I want to answer a few questions I’m regularly asked by our buyers and sellers.
From buyers, I hear, “How many homes do I need to look at? What price should I offer?”
And from sellers, I get, “How do I know when I should take the offer?”
Let’s begin with the buyer’s side. The average buyer looks at seven to eight homes, though many look at more or fewer. Our goal is to narrow down your search to homes that fit your criteria to save you time and money. We don’t want to waste your time by showing you 30 homes that don’t match what you’re looking for.
In terms of what price you should offer, the answer is that it depends. On average, homes in the Capital Region area sell at 95% to 100% of the list price. But not all homes are priced correctly; there are many homes that are overpriced in the MLS, as well as homes that are underpriced and those that are spot on. We can tell you what the home is worth and what kind of offer you should make.
As an example, if you make an offer in January on a house that has been on the market for six months, we won’t let you offer 95%—that’s probably a motivated seller, so there’s an opportunity for us to get you a good deal.
For sellers, on the other hand, if your home has been on the market for two days and someone makes a full-price offer, you’ll probably ask if you could get more. That’s where our expertise in valuing homes comes into play. In my experience, the first offer is the best offer 99% of the time.
We recently had a high-profile investor receive a full-price offer on a property he was selling. This was his first offer, but his natural inclination was to wait for more exposure on the market to see if he could get more. Long story short, that first buyer didn’t want to wait around, and so three months later, he got $15,000 less than what he could have.
Scenarios like that are why we are here. We’re here to maximize your return and lessen the inconvenience for you, whether you’re buying or selling.
If you have any questions about what’s going on in the real estate market, feel free to contact me directly. I’d be glad to use my experience and perspective to guide you through your transaction.
