Thursday, April 28, 2005

Wired Mag needs to get a grip

The latest issue of Wired Magazine has an article about real estate agents that is mind boggling. The article correctly indicates that real estate agents realize a higher price on their own homes when they sell, but then goes on to incorrectly conclude that the reason for this is that agents intentionally try to get their sellers to accepts lower offers, while "holding out" for better offers on their own homes.
HOGWASH!
They should have done just a wee bit more research into the "hows and whys" before jumping to errouneous conclusions.
The fact is, real estate agents work with motivated buyers day in and day out and know exactly what they are looking for. When an agent puts their own house on the market, they have already done the things that they know buyers will be looking for in a home. Most sellers, on the other hand, cannot understand why they should sink an additional $5,000 to $10,000 into a home they are about to sell and move out of. Instead, the seller wants to offer "carpet and paint allowances". Failing to do this cheap, simple work BEFORE putting a home on the market will impact the sales price by 3-8%. Doing the work FIRST allows a seller to realize a higher price, much quicker.
I think the National Association of Realtors deserves an apology from Wired Mag. Developing...