You Might Not Need A REALTOR IF... Reason #10
You Don't Really Want To Sell
I often think of my mom. Many years before I was a real estate agent, she got a divorce. She would go through the motions of putting her home on the market about every 6 months. She'd hire a REALTOR, bash them, explaining everything they did wrong, refuse to permit reasonable pricing or showing policies, and then when the agreement ran out, she'd take the place off the market for 6 months and pick a new REALTOR the next spring.
In hind sight, I realized she didn't ever want to sell the house. So what was the point? I think it may have been what motivated her to paint and spruce the place up each spring. The irony is she would whine and complain about what the REALTORS were charging her. They all worked on contingency and they never sold the house. They weren't collecting money at all. They didn't cost her a thing. What was her point? She cost them money and aggravation.
If you are just looking to feel better about your home, looking for motivation to paint and spruce your place up and "test" the market to see if you could get some unreasonable price... well, please, do us all a favor and don't hire a REALTOR. Go through those actions as a FSBO. We have real houses to sell, and real sellers to help.
Maybe you have a more logical reason...maybe she even had a more logical reason. Maybe she had to prove to her ex-husband that her home was not worth whatever the asking prices were each year.
In any case, if you know you are not going to sell, or probably not going to sell, be honest. Third parties involved are going to likely require a real estate agent list the property so you can show diligent efforts to sell. If this is the situation, just be honest. Your real estate agent will adjust his or her plan and personal effort and marketing budget accordingly, and that is fair. Agents will be fair with you when you are fair with them... or at least this agent will. If you have a unique situation, maybe something like this, feel free to call me and BE HONEST about your situation. In return, I will be honest, too.
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In case you're curious, my mom did eventually sell - in the heat of an escalating sellers market, FOR SALE BY OWNER. She felt very good about herself, having saved several thousands of dollars in commissions, and getting such a good price that the agents had not been able to obtain for her in prior years, and selling it "as is".
No, I have never told her that the REALTOR that purchased the home from her flipped it a few months later for a handsome profit. I guess she left a little cash on the table.
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