Want to Pay More?

By Jim Palmer Jr.

In my previous life as a grocery manager, I noticed that no one ever paid more for their groceries than the price listed on the shelf, even when demand was high for items like propane and water during a power outage.  Yet, in my real estate career I see that happening almost every day. Why does the public put up with this? Maybe you can tell me!

Radio ads are prevalent in the Spokane market that promote real estate brokers who can supposedly sell your home 25 times faster than the average agent and for a certain percentage above the listed price. Is this real? That sure sounds like a fantastic claim and promise! If that is a real claim, can they consistently deliver on such an assertion, and how do they do it?  

The real truth to these claims may lie in the fact that the market is really hot right now and almost no matter how a property is marketed, it will sell fast. But let’s dissect this claim a bit. The average market time in the past year for a home in the $200,000-$250,000 range was 37 days. That means the broker’s claim to be 25 times faster than average means all of their listed properties averaged a market time of only 27 days. Since it takes the perfect buyer and a super human effort to close a loan that fast, one might wonder how that claim stands up over a period of time. No one knows except that broker.

So how do they accomplish an average of 6-8% sales price above the listed price? Is the market accelerating that quickly, or could they intentionally be using a lower-than-market list price as a ploy to start a bidding war?  If so, is that honest or is it just good business strategy? Or are they just so good at their job that they can talk someone into paying more for a property than it is worth? Maybe their careful manipulation of the data assures that their statistic seems plausible. If I sound like a skeptic, it’s because I am. When claims seem to-good-to-be-true, they usually are! If all you want is a Slick-Willy-Salesman who claims to produce fast results, then you may be missing out on a true professional who has the competency factor that you can rely on for a worry free result.