In your best interests
Does a Charleston real estate agent always look out for your best interests in a real estate transaction ...
or are some actually looking out for their own interests.
True story.
I don't call FSBO's to try and list their home, I've got better things to do in my life than go into battle with stubborn sellers who think their home is worth more than the market. But the other day, a FSBO called me to interview to list their home and wouldn't tell me very much other than they were interviewing several agents and to prepare a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine how much their home could and should sell for.
So I did and I met with the seller and it turned out, the seller already had an offer from a buyer but hadn't accepted it yet.
Well, in this kind of real estate market, you have to wonder why.
Offer price too low, nope, right where the seller wanted to be and right where the CMA indicated.
Not financially qualified, nope, cash.
Another agent told this seller that they could sell it for even more and cover their commission cost as well.
Stop right there and think about this for a second. If this home was in the Charleston MLS and I had a potential buyer for the home, I would do a CMA for my buyer just like I did for the seller and it would arrive at the same financial conclusion; that the home was worth X.
Oh, and by the way, an appraiser would do the very same thing so even if a buyer wanted to overpay, the appraisal wouldn't support the excessive offer.
So I suggested the FSBO contact their potential buyer and go into contract to sell their home for what was verbally agreed upon because it just didn't make any sense to hire an agent and risk trying to sell it for a little bit more especially when the numbers didn't justify a higher price.
So my question, was that Charleston real estate agent really looking out for the sellers' best interests or ...
just interested in making a commission.
The seller appreciated my honesty.