Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

DH and I are thinking about taking a shot at a waterview home in our town and are meeting with a realtor tomorrow to talk about putting our home on the market.

We're not very savvy at this...the house we live in right now is the 1st house we looked at back in '03! We know we'd need to sell our home in order to buy the next one so the REA wants to come get a feel for what our home would sell for.

Do we have to list our current home with the seller's agent? What might the perks be if we did?

My home is SOOO not ready to go on the market/be shown to potential buyers -- two little boys under the age of 3 will do that, I know! But she's coming to 'look around' tomorrow -- anything I should do besides clean up and put away some clutter? The boys will be napping, so that's helpful.

We bought the worst house on the block, did TONS of work on it, and when the REA looked up what we paid back in '04 she seemed surprised that we'd be taking a stab at such an expensive house -- am I wrong to be annoyed at that?

The home we're interested in has been on the market for 12+mos and we're thinking of just throwing a low number to see what we get back. Any thoughts?

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

my best advice to you is to read EVERYTHING very carefully and get everything in writing.

you don't have to go with the seller's agent. no perks. actually we did that and it worked against us... if you would like more information, send me an FM and I will give you run down. too long of story to post

you don't have to really do anything to show the house to the RE agent. that is her job if you decide to list with her. she might suggest putting away some personal items (pictures). actually our aparment was staged. we were very skeptical at first. but it worked.

in our situation we were selling our apartment too. BUT we didn't have to sell in order to buy our current house. luckily it sold very fast & got stuck paying 2 mortgages for about 2 months.

be prepared that will be take alot of your time and patience.

good luck to you !!! If you have any questions feel free to send me an FM

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

I am a bit confused. Is the realtor coming tomorrow the agent of the house you are interested in?

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

I would suggest taking a look at your comps. If the realtor is prepared, s/he will have brought them anyway - both those listed and those which have sold recently. I would tidy up, but you don't have to 'do' anything for him/her. Be prepared to explain all of the work you've done - and don't forget smaller details..everything is a selling point! I would also speak with a few agents and then go with the one you feel most comfortable with. Ask about commission and how it works when other agents are involved. My agent split it down the middle with the second prospective agent involved, whether it was a buyer's agent or a seller's agent. I thought that was smart. Other agents wouldn't offer a piece of the commission to buyer's agents so what is the motivation for them to show the house to their clients??? Also ask about their marketing strategy. My agent did a professional photo shoot which was very impressive, but marketed my house only online. This sounded fine when we signed with him but if I could do it again I would probably want an agent who does print adverts as well.

I would also ask:
- How are showings arranged? (Do they have a call center? Do they want you to have a lock box, etc?)

- How often can I expect to receive updates on showings, feedback, etc. (My agent was NEVER proactive about this which really p*ssed me off. I had to follow up with him after every single open house, etc.)

- Does the agent expect you to be home for showings or will they accompany all buyers?

Good luck! It is a stressful process, but should be worth it in the end.

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

If the agent is just coming to "look around" you don't have to sign anything.. they are not looking at your mess or clutter either.. LOL they are looking at the rooms and sizes and amentities to give an idea of what you could sell it for.. They WILL try to get you to sign a contract at that moment, if you are not comfortable than you CAN say no.. and you should. You should get at least 3 agents in there to do the same thing to see which you are comfortable with. I had my house on the market for 8 months with an agent that was horrible because it was a "friend" after that contract expired we had a few agents come in and we chose the one we liked.
Ask: what their commission is? What is their selling stradegy? And stress to them you need good communication skills.. you need a realtor that will tell you what you should do if noone has looked at it in a month.. When you do finally list the house and you start showing it is when you have to worry about your clutter and mess.

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

Message edited 1/19/2011 10:15:28 AM.

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

Not only do you not have to sign anything when the RE agent comes the first time, I would strongly recommend against signing anything at that first meeting.

Meet with at least 3 realtors before deciding with whom you want to list. Ask them what comps they are using to determine listing price. Ask them what they think your house will realistically sell for. Ask what challenges they think you are facing in selling your property. Ask for suggestions regarding changes you might want to make to make it sellable. Ask them how many buyers they have looking in your area. Ask them what their marketing plan is. Ask about their commission rate.

I would also ask all of them to leave a copy of their standard contract with you so can take some time to read through it privately. Then contact them with any questions you have.

I would wait at least 24 hours after meeting with the last realtor before making your decision, no matter how great the realtor seems. Take time to process everything and think it through. DO NOT feel pressured by anyone wanting to push you to sign a listing agreement. It's your decision.

Good luck!

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

let me make sure I am understanding this correctly....

the sellers agent of the house you would like to buy is coming over to speak with you about listing your house?

before you even have this conversation you need to understand that this is a DUAL AGENT situation

this is not really a good thing for you- but for the seller of the house you want to buy

the agent should explain this to you and have you sign off that you agree to have her work as a dual agent

the sellers agent is now getting all the inside info on you- which she is legally and ethically obligated to share with the SELLER at this point

FM me if you have more questions -

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

Posted by bdmom

Posted by Goobster

I am a bit confused. Is the realtor coming tomorrow the agent of the house you are interested in?

Yes. Apparently the seller of the house we are interested in will only let her house be shown to 'serious' homebuyers, so her agent offered to come look at our house to give a ball-park figure of what our home may sell for.

This was all under the assumption that we would HAVE to sell our current house in order to buy the next one. That's ideal, of course, but dh and I think we might buy the new one and rent out the current one....didn't realize how much $$ we had already saved up.

Ets: thanks for all the comments - these are very helpful!

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

Wait. I think I didn't read this right. The seller's agent won't allow you to SEE the house you're interested in until one of her agents comes to see your current home? And you're not using a buyer's agent for the purchase?

Or you were so impressed with the seller's agent that you might want to potentially list with them, too?

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?

That makes sense, thanks. I get it now. In the OP's situation, though, the OP has NO official relationship with the seller's realtor at all right now with respect to the seller's property... so anything she tells that realtor is fair game for the realtor to be sharing with the sellers... Right?

Re: Mtg with RE Agent tomorrow -- any hints/pointers?