R.E. Agent bringing down property values?

[Eric]

I don't really have a question, but thought I'd share this experience...

I know a lot of people think their houses are worth more than they actually are, but I think we have a legit problem in our neighborhood... We bought a house just over a year ago & got a good deal on it evidenced by the fact that the seller pretty much refused to accomodate our requests when he realized he shouldn't have taken the first offer. We were told he received other larger offers after accepting ours. Since then the trend for the rest of the area has continued to go up. Our neighbors sold their house not too long ago the same day it went on the market, before it was listed. It went for over $20k more than we got ours for, but less than what it could have sold for even though it's smaller w/ fewer improvements. There is a demand for our homes, which are of a more modern style....

So, this local real estate agent who markets himself as being "the guy" when it comes to these style homes has sold many of the houses on our block multiple times, so I'm sure many people feel they have to go w/ him... he actually just sold two homes on our block w/in the last month. The problem is that he actually told us that our style homes aren't worth as much as other, more traditional, homes in the area, which is complete BS. It seems as though he's putting the houses on the market, taking the first offer, and then moving on to the next deal. Anyway, I brought this up on a forum devoted to the style home we have & the post was removed by the admin, I got banned for reposting it after it was removed w/out explanation, and later got a cease and desist letter from the attorneys representing the RE Agent and his company! I thought the site was supposed to help people who own those types of homes... I guess I was wrong.

What we're fearing is that people will look at the history of the sales prices around us when we go to sell (possibly w/in the next year or so, depending) and will force the price down... We've talked to other RE Agents in the area who know the guy, don't think what it appears that he does is ethical and even told us that "he's not all there"...

Due to the C&D, I'm afraid that anything I do will bring legal action against me, even though everything I've stated has been clearly as my own opinion or actual fact, so their defamation claims are groundless, but they have the resources & I don't.
Anyone see anything like this before?

[CThomp]

I'm not sure I understnad this whole thing? Why not just use a different agent. Who cares if he wants to sell your house or not.

Most agents will try to get you to sell at a lower price. It's all commission to them. They could care less. If you don't want to pay the commission and the market is that hot in Sacramento then sell by owner or sell through Assist2sell. You'll pay much less or no commission.

If the market is that hot in your neighborhood then the agents probably aren't really doing anything anyhow. Thats how it was here for a while. Houses would be on the market for 2 weeks at the most and the realtor would still get 6%.

[Eric]

no, we'd never think to use this guy...

The problem is that people look at what similar houses go for in the immediate area and since it looks like he's pricing them too low, that could bring down the value of our house. If another agent comes in, prices houses on our block higher & they continue to sell right away, then that means we could get more for our house vs. now where people might think our asking price would be too high...

There's what we see as proof of this going on right now... while "the guy" was selling two houses on our block, another agent came in and priced another house higher. It's highly probable that the higher priced house has sat for weeks because "the guy" has sold two houses for much much less. So, seeing a huge difference like that in price, I'm sure, is driving people away from that house.

[CThomp]

There is pretty much nothing you can do about it. The bringing property values down argument doesn't often carry much weight anyhow being that most people believe their house is worth more than it actually is.

"This guy" is just getting people to take quick sales. If you want to move your house quick you price it lower than others. The only way your house will stick out is if some one wants it really really bad. Otherwise all they have to do it wait for the next house.

The market has slowed down alot down here. But the houses that still sell fast are the ones priced really low. Otherwise the houses are sitting on the market for months now.

[Eric]

Well, it's official... an agent we were working with said she could easily sell our house at a certain price, but we were just told that a finance person she worked with on another house said that ours would appraise lower because of "that guy" selling the other houses for a lot less. We're talking a drop of $50k because of this guy. Had he matched the rest of the market in the area outside of our neighborhood, we'd be able to sell & put enough down on another house we were looking at (a win-win-win-win situation), but now we probably won't be able to...

[David]

A finance person is not an appraisor. Ask your agent to pull comps to back her claim that she could sell your house for X amount.

[Eric]

Sorry, I intended to say that our finance person was told by her appraiser... and yes, we've seen comps from our agent & we're on MLS every day.

[David]

and yes, we've seen comps from our agent & we're on MLS every day.

So does that mean your RE Agent actually could sell your house for $50K more than the apprasial can get?

I guess I don't see how an agent can claim they could get, say $450,000, when pulling comps shows others only getting about $400,000. That just doesn't make sense.

[Eric]

ok, this is the best way I can explain it.... We live in a circle that consists entirely of a specific style home by the same builder. All of the houses around us (outside of the circle) are more traditional style homes. Ours are more modern and very trendy. Using your example, our RE Agent says she could get over $450k for our house if it were outside of our little circle. "That guy" is selling the houses w/in our circle (same style as ours) for say $330k to $380k. He's told us, to our faces, that our houses aren't worth as much as the other more traditional homes, which every single agent we've spoken with contradicts. We all think he's convincing the other owners on our block of that same thing & gets them to go really low on the price, so they'll sell quickly and he can move on to the next one. The first thing he told us is that he is "the guy" and has sold many of the homes on our block multiple times. It seems obvious that no other RE Agent stands a chance because this one has set the rate & gets to the current owners first because he probably sold the house to them in the first place. I'm positive he said this about one of the ones he sold recently.
So, getting back to your example, there are more traditional style houses, which are everywhere & there's nothing special about them, going for $600k down the road, and this guy is pricing these at 2/3 of that or under because he claims to be "the guy"
Sure, people could be smarter & try to sell their houses for more, and someone in our circle is trying. The problem is that that house has sat for months while at least three other houses have sold for around 3/4 the price. Granted that house doesn't have the updates that ours does, but it's one of the larger ones in the circle, so that's a wash... If that one sells for say $450k, then we should be able to get that. But, the reality is that people are probably seeing these other similar houses going for $350 & wonder why in the world would they want to pay $100k more...
One last thing... the same style homes, in another neighborhood about 3mi away are going for easily 50% more than those in our circle have gone for w/in the last year & they don't stay on the market.
Hopefully that clears it up. :)

[David]

I understand. It's upsetting to know 1 agent seems to get all the business. It's worse that the agent is ethically challenged.

[Conner]

Well, a market consists of buyers and sellers. "Value" of something is set when the price a seller is willing to sell for intersects with what buyers are willing to pay. Apparently your neighbors are willing to sell at a much lower price than you (as evidenced by their willingness to accept lower prices than you think your house is worth). Buyers clearly want to pay as little as possible, so your neighbors are making the market.

Maybe they are getting bad information from this agent, but ultimately they are the ones who need to accept or reject offers on their property. For whatever reason, maybe they have to move quickly or they can't afford resetting ARMs, they have decided to accept those lower prices. The fact that your higher-priced neighbor's house is sitting on the market tells me that buyers aren't willing to pay that much, so he is overvaluing his house.

If other people in your neighborhood with similar houses are willing to sell their houses for less than you are based on what they assess to be the best information they can get than that is just the market you are in. Use a different agent and try to get your neighbors to do the same.

[AustinRealEstate]

Ok. Initial disclaimer. I'm a real estate agent.

I take offense to the "he's a real estate agent so X Y and Z." Screw that CThomp.. I am well educated having attained a dual degree in computer science and computer ENGINEERING.

Yep. I don't need to be a slimy salesperson to make money. I was doing just fine developing software, but I missed the human interaction that other jobs offered so I left the software business and went for a more interpersonal and free position.

Ok. that aside, here's some food for thought. Any agent worth their salt knows that s/he doesn't know everything. A good agent will list the property at whatever the owner asks (at least for a little while). I ate my humble pie on a 250k listing that I knew wouldn't sell for more than 240k. I turned down the listing and it promptly sold hte next week for 255k with an agent who was willing to list the home at the seller's price.

If this agent is any good at all s/he should list it at what you want and then adjust it based on feedback fromk other agents/buyers.

My 2 cents.

Joe

[TheDoctor]

This agent is just doing his job and going for the quick sale. If you want more money for your property, just ask for more. If you don't the wait, mind sitting on the market for a bit might be a good option for you. You may get the price you are asking for. And it seems like you're ready to sell now and just debating it. Why not be on the market at the same time...