8 to 10 active listings is actually quite a healthy number. The top agent in the office that I work for currently has 12. She employs a part time assistant. The top agent at our branch office has 41 listings, but she employs an entire team of people to handle the work load.
The thing that you want to check is how quickly the agents are selling their listings.

I am less concerned about the number & price range of listings than about the fact that all of them gave you wildly different prices. Did they show you the comps or just tell you that they looked at comps to come up with their number? Getting the price right at the beginning of a listing plays a huge part in getting your home sold. I am with Terriks - if an agent has been pricing homes properly, you will see that reflected in the days on market. Ask what the average days on market is for your area & what each agent's average is. Also, at what % of asking did home sell for & what % is average for your area.

Wow 8-10 listings is good? I had always assumed a good agent would have at least 25. I didn't think about how some listings are being sold and others are being picked up, though. My misunderstanding. What about the fact that most of the listings are priced way below mine? Does that mean anything? Should I try to find a realtor who has a majority of listings that more closely match my value, or does that matter at all?

Part of the price discrepancy with my house is the county has a low appraised value ($205k)- which is just fine because that means I pay less property taxes. I'm not the least bit interested in getting them to correct this and raise the taxes. The other part of the problem is the county tax records only show a 1800 s.f. house, when it is actually a 3500 s.f. house. I know that space below grade is worth less - but there is no way this particular basement is only worth $30k more. It doubles the size of the house, and it is not a Harry Homeowner kind of basement - it is a high quality, very professional job.

Anyway, this low appraisal for county tax purposes plays a big role in the realtor's comps. The realtor who gave me the higher figure told me she almost gave me a lower figure just based on tax rexords alone, but after she saw the house, there was no way it would be valued so low. She told me the lowest price was because the realtor was relying solely on tax records, and she was wrong to do so. She said if I priced it at the lowest price, it would be sold so fast my head would spin. Which is great, except for losing $100k. But hey its only money, right?

As far as comps go - all of them gave me at least 5-10 houses, and all of them also had a few goofy houses I NEVER would have chosen as a comp. One realtor said she let the computer do the picking and she didn't manually come up with the comps - which maybe thats the way its done, but still doesn't seem right to me.

So it is confusing why there is such a discrepancy, and it is a little hard to figure out who is lowballing me to snag a quick sale, who is pricing too high to tell me what they think I want to hear, or who has a realistic price. I had always figured the house was worth between $275k-$285k, which puts me in the "upper middle" of the quotes I got. Maybe if I start at $265k to compete with my neighbor's $259k price, that would be a good start.

When I questioned price discrepancies, they all suggested I could hire a house appraiser. You get 3 appraisers together and you get 3 different prices too, plus whatever price they come up with today may not match whatever the buyer's lender's appraiser comes up with. I think thats just wasted time and money hiring an appraiser - and besides, I THOUGHT this was a big part of the agent's expertise.

10 listings is above average. Plus, you want to hire an agent that has listings that sell... not one that gets listings and then they just sit. No need to worry about this.
Do not worry, IMO, that the listings they have are lower priced than yours. They all pretty much sell the same, once they are entered into the MLS. Maybe if your home was a multi million dollar home, should this concern you.
Now for the kicker... tax value has NOTHING to do with your homes market value. It should be based off of homes sold, comperable to yours, no longer than 6 months ago. Banks like less than 3 months even better. There is no place on the appraisal form that asks for tax value. And, I would get rid of the agent that let the computer pick the comps. Pricing a home is more than just looking at #s. Homes have an emotional value, curb appeal, upgrades, etc. that no computer can calculate. Hopefully, this was the agent that was $100,000 off.
Which agent took the time to measure your home? This is a requirement by the RE commission. Tax records are notoriously incorrect. A Realtor can not advertise a home's sq. ftg. unless they measured it.
A nicely finished basement does add value... but like you say it does not equate to the sq. ftg. upstairs. This value varies across the Country... ask all 3 agents and see what they say. They should be able to tell you a $/sq. ftg number.
Yes, a good agent should be able to price your home correctly. Is your neighbors home a good comp to yours? If so, then go with the agent that came in close to this price, assuming that their marketing plan is ok with you.
Earlier you said that you want to sell in 30 days or less. If this is the case, and your neighbors home is comperable to yours, then you are already starting off wrong. If your home is $10,000 more valuable, than go for it. But if the two homes are of equal value, why price it above your competition, if you want to be the winner first?

Thanks NC - your advice is always very helpful.

Every agent I speak to seems to think the neighbor's house is identical. They even say that since they are sitting at $259k with no offers, even that price is too high.

I guess I could be biased, but I really think my house is much better than the neighbor's. I have 3500 finished s.f., half brick/half vinyl - they have 1800 finshed s.f. with a 900 s.f. unfinished basement, all vinyl. Yes, you can finish their basement and come a little closer to matching my s.f., but you will spend much more money doing that than if you were to buy my house to begin with. Hopefully other people will easily see that.

I know what you are saying about undercutting the neighbors price and "guaranteeing" a faster sale. I have thought about that a lot. I didn't think it was too risky to price mine a little higher - we are only talking about $7k more here, I still think that makes mine a bargain compared to theirs.

thanks again

cas66ragtop - neighbors house isn't selling at $7K less than what you want to price it at and realtors think that their price is too high. Why do you then want to price it higher.

It seems like your house is a better house, however below grade sq ft wouldn't matter so much to me as far as paying a lot more for it even if nicely finished as it may not be finished to what my needs would be. The value of it isn't as high as above grade.

I think you need to price the same or lower than your neighbor to not be overpriced. Where were the other comps ie houses SOLD for in the area at price wise? Take those and compare to what you have and price it based on those.

An appraiser might be useful in finding out how much they value finished below grade vs. unfinished below grade in your area.

Which agent took the time to measure your home? This is a requirement by the RE commission. Tax records are notoriously incorrect. A Realtor can not advertise a home's sq. ftg. unless they measured it.

This may be true in NC, but is not true for all states. I wouldn't want anyone here to eliminate a Realtor because they didn't measure the house. In my state, Oregon, agents are NOT required to measure the home. Most agents use the assessor's data, and it is disclosed how/where the measurement came from.

If half of your square footage is below grade, you really don't have a 3500 sq ft house, you really only have a 1800 sq ft house with a nice basement. An appraisal compeleted for a lender, for your prospective buyers mortgage, does not count below grade sq footage either. There will be some adjustment for a finished basement, but not the type of adjustment an additional 1700 sq ft of above grade living space would be.

What realty firm has sold the most houses in your neighborhood? (Their own listings or another firm's listings.)

As the salesmen sing in "The Music Man", ya' gotta' know the territory.

I see more what you are saying with the basement thing. I still disagree with the whole "basement is worthless" mindset, but I can't change how other people value things. That basement was one of the best parts about the house. It was great - everyone who went down there would ooh and ahh and say gee I wish my house was like this. Plenty of room to have a game room/home theatre, etc.

I see what is really happening here.......basement dwellers have been discriminated against. It is time for this to stop. Above ground dwellers have been shown favoritism for long enough. It is time for all basement dwellers to stand up and teach all the above ground dwellers to show us some respect! I am going to form a Basement Dwellers Anti-Defamation League (BDADL) - anyone who would like to become a member or anyone who just wants to send donations to this worthwhile cause can feel free to contact me. It is time for the Morlocks to come out from the ground and teach the Eloi a lesson! Haha!

OK back to being serious......so if I have a 1800 sf house with a finished 1700 sf basement, and the neighbors have a 1800 sf house w/a an unfinished 900 sf basement - how does that equate to my house is worth the same or less than the neighbors? By me asking $265 (actually 6k difference, not 7k - my bad) versus his $259k, that still seems like the wrong thing to do? My house STILL seems like quite the bargain over theirs. Oh well......doesn't really matter, because I need to be in line with what has sold and not what is active. Some of the comps I was shown (that have sold) make it appear that I could ask as high as $295k and expect sales price of $280k - but I will still price lower to get the quicker sale (I hope). Hopefully a decent (and realistic) price will be figured out really soon.

Thanks again for the help.

Is your basement a walkout type or have a lot windows?

What were the three price points of the agents?

Happyladi - my basement has 2 pairs of french doors at ground level - the whole side of the house is at ground level, actually makes the house look like a 2 story when you first see it. There are no other windows anywhere. Basement has 9' ceilings. The neighbor has a set of 4' wide stairs leading down to the basement, and he has a few small (10"x18"??) windows near the ground (not window wells). My ground level access should definitely make my house more desirable.

NC - prices I got from the 3 realtors:

1. $225k to $240k
2. $245k t0 $262k
3. $300k to $325k

Quite a difference, huh? You would think they would have been a lot closer than that. I told every single one of them I wanted a realistic price, something that would sell quick, yet I also did not want to give the place away. The realtor that gave the highest price was the last one to give me price, and before she gave me the comps I made the mistake of telling her the other agents came in way lower than expected. At the time, I was expecting to hear $275k-$289k, but I did not tell anyone this price range. I do not know if that info made her look a little harder at the comps to come up with something more accurate, or if she was just telling me what she thought I wanted to hear. Her comps did include 2 houses that were asking $329k and closed at $315k and $309k.......so I am not sure what to think there. They also all have access to my house's past listing - and they should know it was under contract for $325k at one time. I wonder if that could also be where the higher number came from.

How long ago were you under contract for $325K?

That was a little more than 3 yrs ago. The buyers got out of the contract within 2 wks claiming they couldn't get a loan (after they were so proud to show us how they were "pre-approved"). I think they just had buyers remorse and found a cheaper house.

I would try 270 and see how much activity you get.

I am happy to join your basement dwellers group. Your basement with the walk out and windows would sell me your house. The price difference is justified.

We sold our home with a walkout and large windows and it was the most 'used' part of our home. Hubby had his 60" tv, surround sound, stero in the large room. We made a small guest room and full bath in the other half. It served as our family room for the kids when they were small.

Now we are looking at property in Florida and there is no extra space without a basement. Truly missed!

Good luck with your sale,

Jane

Thanks Jane for the nice thoughts. It was looking like I was the only one who saw any value in a basement. Yes I really miss that basement - our new house is on a crawl space. Oh well.......

You are the first to show interest in the BDADL - so you can be president if you wish. I don't want to hold any position, too much responsibility for me. Just being the founder is enough for me. Maybe someone could paint my portriat and hang it over the mantel? Which would be better.......me in a rose-colored leisure suit, or a purple velvet smoking jacket? I can't decide.

My preference would be a selling agent with an inventory of similarly or higher priced houses than mine.

Someone who is used to selling lower priced homes may not market my higher priced house in a manner that best reflects it. That was my experience with two different real estate agents when I was selling. The woman with the higher priced inventory was more polished, more professional, and had better marketing tools than the one whose inventory was less expensive homes.

Another issue popped up last night, regarding one of the realtors I interviewed.

This lady gave me the lowest comp, and I had already decided not to use her. She called me a couple times since then, and she offered to give me new comps. She also said she was sure she already had a buyer for the house - it was exactly what they are looking for. Yeah right, I'm not going to fall for that one. Well, I still wanted to see what the new comps were and I was curious about the "buyer".

She came over last night to the house, had a camera with her, and was snapping pictures everywhere. She wasn't waiting for me to escort her throughout the house, she was off and running the minute she got in the door. She kept saying out loud, "oh this house is perfect.....they will LOVE this.....I already told them about this house and they can't wait to see it." OK, I admit I find it interesting, but I'm still not convinced she truly has anyone. I'm very suspicious she is creating a sense of urgency so I will sign with her. Then the story got even weirder.

She said she used to be a mortgage broker. She said she helped these people get a reverse mortgage on their house. They are senior citizens - in their 80s. They are relocating here from 2.5 hours away (coming from the city to settle down in a smaller town). They had a contract on another house, but the bank foreclosed on it, the owner freaked out and stripped the house of all light fixtures, plumbing fixtures and the heat pump, so that deal is done. They have all this cash from the reverse mortgage and are just itching to spend it on another house. She said she was going to show them my neighbors house, but wanted to give us first dibs. I asked her if she could show them the house BEFORE we signed, treat it sort of like a FSBO and I would giver her 4%. She was not interested in that, she wants a listing contract first.

So........who else finds that story to be totally unbelievable? My wife thinks she was telling the truth, because who would fabricate such a story if it wasn't actually true? My biggest problem with the story is who gets a reverse mortgage only to use that money to go buy ANOTHER house? Is that even legal in the first place? Secondly......if they want another house so bad, why would they wait around for mine when there are plenty of others that are actually on the market?

Another thing she kept doing that I found annoying....she must have asked me 5 times what my rock bottom price is. She kept suggesting whatever it is, thats where I should price it. I would never tell her, b/c its none of her business, especially since we haven't signed yet. And no way would I ever price a house at rock bottom, knowing full well that I will not be getting full price offers. After I refused to give her my lowest price, then she started doing what I thought was a "trick" to figure out on her own what it might be. She started saying, "So if your lowest price is say....$270, then you should start there......or if your lowest is $250 you should start there...." To me it felt like she was fishing and she was studying my facial expressions whenever she hit the right number. Once I figured that out I broke eye contact and showed no emotion. I'm pretty sure thats what she was doing.

Anyway, I'm sure I should stay away from this lady. I just wanted to know what you guys think, and if my gut feelings here are correct.

Cas...
Remember what I told you a while back? Here is a refersher:
Ask yourself these three questions when trying to decide on a listing agent, especially when all is among them is equal:

1. Can I communicate well with them?
2. Do they seem trustworthy, and have my best interests at heart?
3. Do I think they share the same morals as I do?

If you ask yourself these three questions about this particular agent, and the other two also, I think you will answer a lot of the questions you have concerning who to choose.
Even if she does have a buyer, if you list it with someone else, they will want to see your home too.

Perhaps she does have someone who would be interested in the house. Can you set up a one-time-only contract that would pay her X percent if she brings a contract that closes *with this buyer*? She already has the 'buyer'; would do no advertising or open house work; house doesn't go into the MLS. You don't have to show it, and show it, and...

My neighbor/realtor and I did this. She knew we were going to build elsewhere. We wanted a delayed closing and had to get X amount on our house. She brought a buyer; the contract was signed; she earned some commission, but not *full* commission, after the closing. We could take less for the house because of the lower commission. Everybody won.

chisue - that would have been a great idea. I tried to tell her I would allow her to show the house to the "buyers" w/o a contract, and if they bought, I would give her 4%. That wasn't good enough for her, she wanted me to sign so she could get 6%. So now I will sign with someone else, and now she will have to settle for 3%.

I still really doubt that she had buyers to begin with.

That little story of hers had all the elements that would excite a lot of other sellers. I am sure it was rehearsed.

1. cash buyers (no loan/appraisal problems)

2. already had a contract (shows they are serious)

3. contract void because of the seller, not the buyers fault

4. quick sale (she said that since they were 80 they couldnt wait around for the "other house" to be repaired - "6 months to an 80 year old is an eternity - they could be dead by then" - yes she actually said that)

5. Even though there are other houses available, they are the most interested in YOUR house (even though they have never seen it for themselves).

The old saying, "if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is" definitely applies here.

We had an amazing realtor sold our house in 28 days and our buyer's house in a week. She had very few listings because she devoted attention to each property and got it sold. During our time with her-- a few months between interviewing , getting the house ready and from offer to closing she closed several deals, and other realtors complained about being slow. I'd look at number of closings.

Do not be seduced by the highest price. A neighbor went on the market for 75K more than we did and their house is now priced under what we sold for. We opted to list a bit higher than the realtor wanted to but were under no pressure to sell. We got within 6K of asking. Figure out who knows the area, who will market your house like crazy (professional pics etc.) Google search the listing addresses and see what comes up. We had 3 pages of entries when we googled our address.

Our region has MLS searches online that you can use to find comps, and to see what realtors are doing. You can pull up whatever the realtor sold in the last three years and look at days on market, % of tax value, $/sq ft, etc, or even whether they are working in the right neighborhood/price bracket. Do your own research, or people will say whatever they think you want to hear.

We have been watching the open houses for a year now, and there's one company/lady whose name we see over and over. Her associates sometimes run the open houses, but she/her team really puts in the work to get things sold. So maybe go to some open houses in your market, and see who is out there.