Community Corner

How Realtors Buy a Listing

Knowing the Arlington Heights market and pricing according to the current marketplace will save you money in the long run.

When I first started in real estate, I was hungry for business. I did everything I could to appease sellers, including taking listings where the seller determined the listing price. The plan was to get as many listings as I could, at whatever price to get my name out there. What. A. Mistake.

Now, (seasoned and all the much wiser,) education for sellers is the most important part of the process. Overpricing a property can often lead to a lower final sales price, painstaking long market times and frustrations from both seller and listing broker.

Understanding the complete picture of the current marketplace by not only the broker, but also the seller creates a smoother, simpler and easier home sale process.

Find out what's happening in Arlington Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

How does a Realtor® buy a listing? Simple really. The broker will tell the seller that the property is worth an inflated price, and that they can get more for it if they list with them. The seller lists with that broker only to find out a few weeks later that the listing agent is asking for a dramatic price change. This was not in your best interest.

Home in Arlington Heights with price changes sell for 92% of actual list, where homes with no price changes sell for 95% of list price.

Find out what's happening in Arlington Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

What does this mean exactly? On a home priced at $400,000 that should have been priced at $375,000; the final sales price is $345,000. If the home was priced at $375,000 to start where it should have been, it may have sold for $356,250, or $11,000 of savings to the seller. Not to mention the longer market time, hassle of keeping the property always showing ready and the feeling of frustration.

The overpriced listing is not in the sellers best interest. The data shows that the more accurate the list price, the more money the seller will net on the sale.

Be knowledgeable about the market. Know exactly what is realistic for a sales price for your home.

Holly Connors is a senior broker and founding member of @properties. For more information, Holly can be reached at 773.862.0200 or holly@atproperties.com. You can also visit her website at hollydanielsonconnors.com


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