Real Estate Round-Up: Learn from other people's opportunity

“Honey, we live in a desirable area. We can sell our house ourselves and save $40,000 in commissions.” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard friends, family and clients entertain this idea, I’d be a millionaire several times over.

As a matter of fact, I have friends from Orange County who told me they’d thought of doing it too when they moved to Fallbrook just this past summer. Turns out, they hired a real estate agent who sold their house before it even hit the multi-listing server and got exactly what they knew they could get for it.

Could they have done it without their real estate agent? Perhaps, if they got lucky and had no complications, because they were right about their neighborhood’s unique attractiveness and had a solid buyer. But what if there had been a glitch? Something they weren’t prepared for legally? Credit or lending problems? Unusual inspection or escrow demands?

Ultimately, this busy, working couple agreed that the expense of utilizing a real estate agent was worth the peace of mind. They had a licensed real estate expert, and they didn’t have to deal with the annoyances that come with scheduling showings, juggling agents, politics and negotiations. There were just too many variables and things that could go wrong for their risk-reward comfort level.

Just this past week, a friend and client here in Fallbrook had to sell her dad’s home in Los Angeles because he’d moved to be closer to her. She and her husband wanted to hire me just to do the legal paperwork for a fee. Her dad’s neighbor wanted to buy the property outright for a seemingly nice price of $965,000, so everything seemed easy. No problem. But what happened?

Well, after the buyer was turned down three times by two different lenders and several other complicated glitches, they asked me to step in and represent them as their real estate agent and list the home.

What seemed to be an easy transaction became a complicated scenario requiring a very different approach. We analyzed the situation, and I presented them with options. They decided to find a way to give the buyer a little more time to perform and in consideration for that, the buyer agreed to let them put their home on the market for backup offers in the event the buyer couldn’t fulfill his financial obligations.

Within days, there were two backup offers on the table – $1.1 million and $1.2 million. These were cash offers with no contingencies. So, was the extra $235,000 over their original agreed upon asking price worth the investment of a real estate agent? Absolutely.

According to statistics, 6 percent of homeowners consider selling their property themselves – ‘for sale by owner’ – at one point or another, but it isn’t recommended.

First, the personal dynamics involved in selling a home can get messy. Real estate agents are nonbiased, third-party partners, so home sellers don’t have to experience the extreme emotional drama that can overpower them when dealing with the emotional attachment issues of selling their home. A real estate agent keeps the drama away from the client, so the client can make an informed decision.

Nest, real estate agents have negotiation skills. Real estate agents are subjective, and, if they are good, they are fierce negotiators. They make the job look easy, so easy that people wonder why they don’t do it themselves. My job is to provide the client with their options in a specific situation and let them decide what they want to do. It’s my job to represent that decision to the other real estate agent so that all parties can come to agreement and complete the transaction. I always remember that sellers want to sell and buyers want to buy. My best work is helping them achieve that goal.

Also, real estate agents have industry knowledge. They are experts on current and local disclosures, on trending lending guidelines, on updated contracts, documents, market sales trends and preferred property options. Chances are a seller doesn’t spend their days pouring over real estate disclosures and legislation, but real estate agents do. That’s their job, and they know what’s best for the seller and their circumstances.

Considering changing a real estate portfolio, our firm would be honored to help with one of your most precious assets – real estate.

Kim Murphy can be reached at [email protected] or (760) 415-9292. Her broker license is #01229921, and she is on the board of directors for the California Association of Realtors.