JULIE GARDNER
  • HOME
  • COMPASS
    • WHY COMPASS?
    • COMPASS CONCIERGE
    • COMPASS BRIDGE LOANS
  • LISTINGS
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT JULIE
    • A DYNAMIC PARTNERSHIP
    • CONTACT
    • PROCESS
    • TESTIMONIALS
    • PRESS
  • PROJECTS
    • BEFORE & AFTER
    • GARDENS
    • OUR TEAM
    • VIDEOS
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • UTILITIES
    • SCHOOLS

Volume 159 - Rejection? Far From It!

11/3/2010

0 Comments

 
Several summers ago my older son (anxious about an upcoming backpacking trip in Yosemite) complained so loudly and incessantly, that an alarmed camp counselor called me (after a pre-registration conversation) to say that the camp was "no longer certain that my son would make a good candidate for the excursion." Yikes!

Upon delivering this unsettling news, my reluctant teenager had a rapid change of heart. Suddenly, he didn't want to be the one missing out or the one left behind. It's been my experience that it is always much easier to do the rejecting then to be the one rejected (my high school prom notwithstanding). None of us likes the feeling of being passed over, or of not being good enough, and we sure don't like it when it's our home that gets "passed over" (or our kids for that matter).

Of course, at 50, the realization that "popularity" often comes with a price, is much easier to live with than at 15. At 15 (16, 17, 18 . . .) rejection seems so devastating and so stigmatizing. (It isn't but for better or worse, rejection is part of life.)  Still, even the most seasoned agents aren't immune to rejection.

It stings when you lose an opportunity that you feel you have genuinely earned and rightly deserve; clients you have serviced for years, buyers you have helped for months, or sellers you placed into their homes previously. In a challenging economic atmosphere, agents aren't only in competition with one another; increasingly we're in competition with unrealistic Seller or Buyer expectations as well (a much tougher foe to conquer in many instances).

It's common knowledge among agents that sellers select their representatives for one of two reasons: 1) they'll either choose an agent/broker firm by reputation, or 2) they'll pick the highest suggested selling price! (These aren't automatically incompatible by the way, but usually they are.)

Nearly every Seller believes the rules of the marketplace apply to every other home but theirs. And when a competing agent arrives and confirms an unrealistic price point, it can be incredibly flattering to feel your home can demand a higher price than market performance might suggest. It's easy to get sucked in, but the odds of selling your home for more than the market will bear, are NOT in your favor.

Homes perceived as overpriced in our market generally sell for 9.5 % -20% LESS (!) than those that are sold within the first 21 days and it isn't uncommon to watch as homes get discounted by hundreds of thousands of dollars in our high-end marketplace with each passing month.

Alternatively, Buyers who zealously offer more than the market will support, quickly back out with cold feet and the Seller finds himself with a "tainted listing." Once your initial listing price has been reduced and reduced and REDUCED - to a place where it finally meets market demand - you are typically selling for a rock bottom result. How good is it going to feel then?  

So before selecting a REALTOR based on price alone, ask him or her for their company's track record, for "days on market," statistics and for "sales to list price ratio" (Results are easy enough to produce.) With facts instead of feelings sharply in focus, you should be able to make wiser choices about what is true and what is real - REALLY!

Does the truth hurt? Yes, sometimes it does but an unrealistic price point can stigmatize your home faster than any agent ever could. (Believe me, it is often as tough for agents to deliver sobering news, as it is for you to receive it.) Hearing a price that is substantially below your hopes, desires or needs, can feel like the ultimate rejection - as if the agent doesn't believe in your home - when in fact, just the opposite is true. Realistic pricing is your greatest opportunity at achieving the highest and best result.

And isn't that the better choice? Isn't that the desired goal? And aren't you depending on your agent to help you honestly assess your risk and navigate you future? (Yes, you are.)  Ask yourself this. "If I take price off the table," with whom would I rather work? There's your answer . . .

No, your home isn't being rejected - far from it. A top performing agent's job is to make sure that your home ISN"T getting passed over - OR being left behind (which may require prompt price reductions - sorry, but that's the market reality). It's not about being popular. It's about being honest. If Real Estate agents have no integrity around the delicate issue of value and list price, your home is in a much tougher position than just growing stale on the market. Moreover, you are likely to have a very disappointing result and that's nobody's intention - least of all yours.

How does that feel?  (Not great.)

When it comes to homes, or REALTORS, (or backpacking trips for that matter) it isn't about feelings, it isn't about ego, and it most definitely isn't about appearances - it's about results!
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe

    Author

    Julie Gardner, has been writing The Perspective for 18 years and has published more than 775 humorous but always informative, essays on life and real estate. 

    Picture

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008

    Categories

    All
    Business
    Design
    Drought
    Holiday
    Home Maintenance
    Homes For Sale
    Life
    Market
    Politics
    Renovation

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn
Piedmont · Oakland · Berkeley
 510.326.0840
[email protected]
DRE# 01431765
​COMPASS

  • HOME
  • COMPASS
    • WHY COMPASS?
    • COMPASS CONCIERGE
    • COMPASS BRIDGE LOANS
  • LISTINGS
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT JULIE
    • A DYNAMIC PARTNERSHIP
    • CONTACT
    • PROCESS
    • TESTIMONIALS
    • PRESS
  • PROJECTS
    • BEFORE & AFTER
    • GARDENS
    • OUR TEAM
    • VIDEOS
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • UTILITIES
    • SCHOOLS