THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME... TO MESS WITH YOUR EMOTIONS

I’m working with an out-of-town client to find a home in Portland she can retire to. She’s meticulous about valuing houses and so she instructs me to submit offers based entirely on practical criteria. As a result, her offers are substantially lower than what the houses are listed at. 

But here’s the thing. The real estate market in Portland has changed. Speculation isn’t driving up prices the way it had for several years and a lot of sellers are surprised to find that not only do they get no offers over list, they get no offers at all. We’ve had several offers rejected out of hand only to see the houses still languishing on the market months later. Or pulled off the market entirely. 

Emotionally, these sellers are convinced that no offer is better than a low offer. 

In a changing market, you get to see just how good other realtors are and I have to say, some of the real estate agents I’ve come in contact with have been extraordinary. Others? Well, let’s just say that they aren’t doing their clients any favors. 

Like this one in particular. 

I submitted an offer for my client that the other broker thought was insultingly low. Fine. My client loves the house, so we left the offer open –– the offer wouldn’t expire for more than a month. 

But here’s the part where it gets interesting. The seller keeps lowering the price. And just two days ago, they lowered it again –– to $100 lower than what we offered.

I’m not making this up. 

They have an offer on the table for $100 more than what they’re listing the house at. And the only thing that kept them from accepting the offer we sent over is that they were insulted when it came in.

I get it. Your home carries a lot of emotion. Whether you’re buying or selling, it’s super hard to separate your feelings from what the market tells you. But that’s exactly what you have to do. You can’t wish a home’s value to be higher or lower than it is. 

What you can wish for is a real estate agent who can help you with that perspective. 

Here’s my advice: When you’re talking to real estate agents you're considering working with, see if they tell you everything you want to hear. In fact, come up with some notions to test them. Say things like, “I’m thinking of painting the bathroom brown so it will match the color of poop” or “I’m really good at writing letters, so even if I submit an offer that’s lower than everybody else’s, I’m sure sellers will want to sell to me.” 

If the real estate agents you’re interviewing go along, you might want to stop talking to them. And start talking to me. 

You can reach me at 503-715-2852 or by email at brianb (dot) mrealty (at) gmail (dot) com.