Earlier this month, I wrote a post on “What Do You Look For in a Real Estate Agent?”  And my hypothesis was that you are looking for someone who is ethical, trustworthy, knowledgeable, personable and more, but what is most important of all of those positive qualities ultimately depends on your style, personality and objectives.

As I have continued to ponder this question, I am thinking that you also may be looking for someone who can get you the lowest/best price for a house if you are a buyer and someone who can get you the highest/best price for your house if you are a seller.  The interesting twist on this concept is that most of the time the pricing of a home is out of the agent’s control. As I have mentioned before, when we do a listing presentation at Pinnacle, we say very clearly that the seller sets the asking price, but the market determines the selling price.  In addition the agents are not the decision makers in the buy and sell process – we don’t accept or reject offers – and so we don’t have control in this way either.

Furthermore, as I always tell my clients, the mindsets of the buyers and sellers play a role in the negotiation.  It doesn’t always come down to the comparatives (a.k.a. comps) – similar properties that have sold in the last six months.  If the seller will only sell his house for $700,000, and the buyer is only willing to pay $600,000 because the market information and comps say that is what the house is worth, the deal will not come together.  Now if the house continues to sit on the market and increases its days on the market, over time, this negotiation could change.  The seller may become more flexible.  And the buyer could also decide that it is the only house that they have seen in months that works for their family, and so they too may become more flexible.  It’s all a process for buyers and for sellers.  And the agent’s role is to mediate and facilitate the deal coming together.  It is his or her responsibility to keep the buyers and sellers working together – and to try to make the transaction as much of a win-win scenario as possible.  This has been hard of late given the market conditions.  It is my theory that given the economic situation, sellers come into the negotiation feeling that they are losing money on their house and buyers come into the negotiation fearing that they will overpay for the house.  This tends to breed contention from the very beginning of the process.  It is my hope that as the economy improves slowly over time, this contention between the buyers and sellers will become less and less.

But enough of my thoughts.  What are yours?  Do you think this upcoming Spring market will bring more favorable negotiations?  Let’s all think positive thoughts and keep our fingers crossed as well…just in case.