Indeed, as a listing agent, it is my job to get the best price and terms for my seller client. So indeed, I do try to market the property to maximize the sellers proceeds. This means counseling the seller to properly prepare the property for sale. Many sellers spend weeks, if not months on a lengthy to do list which includes minor projects, painting, de-cluttering, oil tank decommission and so on. We're sure not to market the property until professional photos have been taken, the sign is installed, and the sellers are ready for showings to begin. Often, I'll suggest sellers take a weekend away when their home first hits the market, so the property can be easily shown. And, we want to expose it to the market for a few solid days before looking at offers.
I work carefully with a seller client to help them understand why waiting too long for offers can be counter-productive and alienate good buyers.
So the property hits the market well priced (supportable by comps), looking good, and readily available to be seen. I don't think we've manipulated the market, we're just doing a good job.
The scarcity of listings, combined with a desperation on the part of buyers, has panicked buyers offering well over the list price. Yes, it can be nice to have a few good offers from which to chose. Different sellers have varying priorities, from price to close date, terms or possession date. A few good offers increases the seller's chance to getting what they want. We evaluate offers based on these varying factors, usually accepting one offer and perhaps putting another offer in aback up position should the first sale fall through. A side note, with buyers jumping to make high offers, we are seeing an unusually high number of failed sales as remorseful buyers back out.
Above that, as a listing agent, I see very little benefit to a large number of offers. Oregon statutes require every written offer to be presented to the seller, and I believe every buyer who has written an offer deserves to have their offer considered. I use a spread sheet to organize multiple offers to help my seller client keep track and focus on the components of the offers. The seller only has one house to sell, so aside from the insurance of a back up offer, the difference between 5 and 20 offers is rarely a benefit to the seller.
Should I be pricing the house higher then the market data suggests? That feels reckless, and a bit unethical to me. And I do know, I could price the property too high, attracting no offers; a real disservice to the seller. I'd prefer to price a property where I know the comps support the price, and see if the market chooses to take the price higher. By "the market" I mean see if buyers choose to offer more.
And, unless the offers are cash, in the back of my mind, I'm considering if the appraiser will be able to support the high price when establishing value for a bank loan. In this market appraisers are allowed to trend prices up a bit if the available comparable properties closed several months ago and thus don't reflect this recent run up. But, while appraisers may do this, they aren't required to do so.
A low appraisal requires further negotiation between buyer and seller with the possible solutions being the seller coming down in price, the buyer bringing in more cash, or a combination of the two.
We real estate agents are taking a lot of heat for driving prices up, pricing the working poor out of Portland's neighborhoods, playing pricing games to drive prices up and so on. Mostly, we're trying to do our jobs by doing right by the seller. In my most recent multiple offer scenario, I realized, it is the buyers who are driving those prices up, not the supposedly greedy sellers.
If you have questions about this crazy market, from the buying or selling side, I'd be glad to talk with you. leslievjones@gmail.com 503-312-8038
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