Can an agent sell your home? Sure. Can he or she sell it for so much more that what you walk away with covers the commission? Sure. When pigs fly. When Bush admits he may have been wrong about something. When the Leafs win the Stanley Cup.
Anything is possible. But it’s not a bet a sane person would want to make. But the agents still pitch it. And many homeowners still buy it.
If you’re considering using an agent because you’ve been assured you will walk away with more money in your pocket by using an agent and paying his commission than you would if you sold privately and paid no commission at all, think about this:
The "I can net you more" line is the Big Lie agents must tell or your entire reason for using them collapses.
It’s a preposterous and completely unprovable claim. But that doesn’t stop them from making it.
It’s preposterous and unprovable because it could only be determined if you able to sell the same house into the same market twice, once using an agent and once privately. Since, that’s impossible, the "I can net you more" line is hollow and meaningless.
It makes no sense because it completely ignores the reality of the marketplace.
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And that, Mr. and Mrs. Homeseller, is the reality your home sale will have to deal with. No agent can throw a bubble over your property that invalidates the marketplace. But that’s what they’re saying when they make this claim.
They’re saying a buyer will be willing to pay 6% over current market value for your home because it’s being sold by an agent. Would you? Do you wake up in the morning and say: "Gee, there aren’t enough agents basking on Caribbean beaches. I’ll have to see what I can do about that."
The fair market price is what you will get no matter how you market your home. That’s because it’s established by the rule of supply and demand. Your prospective buyer will look at yours and other comparable homes then on the market (your competition) and will make an offer on the home that represents the best deal. After all, that’s what you would do.
The agent’s commission only puts you at a disadvantage. Because the marketplace will prevail, the commission can only come out of your pocket. If you pump up your price to cover it, your home is now harder to sell than a comparable home whose owner is not burdened by a commission.
Which is more important: Selling your home and keeping all your equity, or helping an agent work on his tan?
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