Buyers Market Affects Brokers Too
A: In a housing market where Fed Chief Bernanke just stated that "housing affordability is becoming much more difficult", real estate agents are focusing on getting loyal qualified buyers who are 'ready to go', instead of promising an unrealistic asking price to get a new exclusive that will sit on the market for months!
In today's housing market it just doesnt make much sense to me to promise an unrealistic asking price to a FSBO or homeowner looking to find a broker, since I will not be able to deliver on my promise and will wind up wasting much of my time and my client's time showing a property that is way overpriced! But thats just me. I'm sure there are plenty of real estate agents out there that feel fine about doing this and prey on unsuspecting, uneducated homeowners who need the comfort and confidence of a broker who lies to them about their property's actual market value!
In my humble opinion I would much rather spend my time looking for great values to pass along to my loyal and financially qualified buyers who are for the most part, 'ready to go'. I'm beginning to see a trend also with my colleagues, who "don't get" why their exclusives aren't selling. What I'm hearing is that, "..it's priced right, Im getting OK activity, just no bites"!
It's a familiar song for any seller in todays market because unless you drastically underprice your apartment, its probably going to take some time to sell! Buyers are very cautious about real estate right now and the one market force that is keeping buying in favor over renting is the very tight and pricey rental market that NY'ers are now facing; read my post "A Rent Induced Housing Surge" for more on this.
So, if you are a buyer working on your own don't be surprised to get follow up calls from brokers you visited on your Sunday Open House tour. In this cooling housing market good buyers are like gold and pricey, stubborn sellers are like mud. Now what brokers want to get dirty and what brokers want to shine?
