When you sign an exclusive right-to-sell agreement with a listing agent, it’s important to understand one thing, says Joan Herlong, CEO of Joan Herlong & Associates Sotheby’s International Realty.
“Exclusive means exclusive,” Herlong says. “In other words, there’s no such thing as ‘the friends and family discount.’”
She’s talking about sellers who mention strongly interested parties, but only after a Realtor recommends a data-supported list price.
Herlong says it occurs more often than she cares to recall.
“After spending hours in the seller’s home, working on the market analysis, then reviewing the analysis with the seller to agree on the list price, the seller suddenly remembers . . . ‘My neighbor’s friend may want to buy my house, so I want to exclude them, and also my possibly interested cousin, from our agreement.’”
“A home is worth what it’s worth, especially in a tight market like ours,” she says. “The problem is that a friend or family member often believes that they should get a steal, not a fair deal. That runs contrary to the seller’s financial interest, and becomes a stressor to the seller’s relationship with them.”
She advises sellers to exhaust all their personal contacts’ interest before listing their home. If there’s genuine interest, the two parties should share the cost of an appraisal, so the sales price is determined by an unbiased professional.
“Unlike an appraiser,” says Herlong, “my role is to help my seller get top dollar; that’s not what friends and family expect to pay.”
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Via GreenvilleJournal.com - Real Estate News
