Q. Why haven’t we seen this from other agents? 

A. We operate under the belief that if we do what is right, tell clients the truth and educate you instead of trying to trick you, you will ultimately do what is right and hire us. As a result of us helping you, you will go ahead and refer us to your friends, family, and anyone else you care about. 

Q. Why do some agents claim they can get more money? 

A. There are several possible answers:
An agent that will list your property overpriced; assumes they can take the listing now. Then they will start beating you up on the price week after week because your property isn’t selling.
Or, they are telling you whatever you want to hear just to take your listing know that by having a listing, potential buyers will call, the agent can then switch them to other properties that are priced competitive and be paid a full commission.
Or, they simply are not paying attention to the market.
Now are any of these the type of agent you want working for you?
 

Q. Should we list high; we can always come down in price later. 

A. We understand that you might be tempted to list high and leave room for negotiating, but have you considered the problem that creates for you? Most qualified buyers won’t even bother looking at properties that are priced to high. Would you rather have a bidding war on your home or not have an opportunity to negotiate any offers at all? With the market trend heading downward for at least a few more years, why would you want to wait to get further from the top? Besides, once you price it too high you can not back peddle fast enough to catch up with the market. 

Q. How long should we list the property? 

A. In today’s market with properties sitting longer and longer it is imperative we price the property aggressively up front, and react quickly if it doesn’t sell within 15-30 days. If we can agree to price aggressively up front, and then adjust our shelf position as necessary, if the market doesn’t see our value, we should absolutely be able to sell the property in 90 days. However, if we can not price it right up front and instead need to adjust to catch up to the market, it can take many times longer. 

Q. I have a friend or relative in the business, shouldn’t I use them? 

A. We can certainly appreciate this, and in this market almost everyone does. So ask yourself some critical questions:
Do you absolutely have to sell this property or are you just looking to do your friend or relative a favor? As the seller you need to consider this as a business decision and ask yourself, “Which agent will I financially benefit from hiring?” “If something goes awry would I want it to impact that friendship?”
 

Q. Why should I move forward now, won’t the market come back soon? 

A. Please review the most recent “Reality of the Tallahassee Real Estate Market Report.” Ask yourself the following questions if that is realistic:
*Interest rates have risen consistently the past several years, now the 80%+ of buyers who bought with an adjustable rate mortgage are facing severely escalating monthly payments, what will happen when they simply can’t make the payments? Do you want to try and compete against backs that just need to get foreclosed real estate off their books?
* At the markets peak we were selling over 1000 homes per month. Even if we returned to that level of sale, it would still take over 3 years to sell just the current inventory. What do you think the odds are of returning to that level anytime in the near future?
* Speculators accounted for over 60% of all the sales in this market during its greatest upswing. That demand is now almost entirely gone. How many of those people who bought properties hoping to make a quick buck are we going to be completing against when you hire us to sell your property?
 

Q. Why wouldn’t we save the commission by selling it ourselves? 

A. This is a common thought among sellers and you need to be aware that the total number of choices buyers have in the market today is higher than it as ever been, and there have been only about 400 homes/month actually selling. This has created an inventory of several years’ worth of homes if no other homes come on the market, and since June 2004 we have averages about 1500 new homes a month coming onto the market. This doesn’t even include all the new construction currently flooding the marketplace!
What’s worse for the seller is the fact that only 2% of For Sale by Owners actually sell themselves and 98% (of everyone else) are listed and sold by real estate agents. You need to ask yourself, can I afford to have only a 2% chance of selling my home?
 

Q. Is it important to have an agent who sells a lot of homes in a certain area? 

A. The most beneficial reason to choose someone like us is we have homes for sale all over the area. Meaning when you sign the contract we can expose your property to potential buyers from all over the area. Now isn’t that the kind of marketing exposure you are looking for? 

Q. Will you cut your commission, other agents said they would? 

A. This is a great question we want to share with you why this makes us nervous. There are a lot of desperate agents out there, and if an agent doesn’t have the courage to stand up to you regarding their own worth, how strong could they possibly be defending you and the price we set on your home? We’re going to show you upfront how tough we are going to be on your price by being tough on our commission. 

Q. Should we think it over? 

A. We understand that making a logical decision is important. So during our appointment tell us what it is specifically that you would like to think over because three minds are better than two, and having an open discussion is very important to us to help you achieve the goals you have set for yourself in selling this home. 

Q. How important is it to be familiar or comfortable with the company you hire? 

A. When you stop and think about it we are certain you realize that a company doesn’t sell a home, it’s the individual agent’s activities. The question you need to ask yourself is do you feel we can sell your home and maximize the equity we are trying to preserve? 

Q. What do you do to sell homes? 

A. That’s another valid concern. Are you aware that there are two kinds of real estate agents in the market today? There are Active and Passive agents out there. We are Active Agents, meaning when you sign the contract we will spend our time actively marketing your home to the public and the other active agents in town. We get on the phone and call people, it’s a lot like work, but don’t you deserve to have someone actually work to sell your property and earn their commission? You want an agent that will work actively and aggressively to get your home sold, right? We won’t try to convince you that signs, open houses, websites, advertising and other forms of passive marketing are going to get anything accomplished. We know that when you stop and think about each one of those activities, no one is going to buy because of junk mail or an ad that is lost amongst a million others. Buyers will buy because you hire powerful agents, like us, who go find the buyers and/or go find the agents they are working with. You do want us to be hones about what it takes to sell real estate in the current marketplace, right?