Everyone tells you to shop around. Interview multiple agents. Get different opinions. Do your homework.
It sounds like good advice. It is actually how a lot of sellers end up with the wrong agent, an overpriced listing, and a very stressful six months.
Here is why.
When you sit down with five agents and tell them you are comparing, something happens in that room. The conversation stops being about your home and starts being about who can close you. The agent across the table knows he is competing. And the fastest way to win a competition with a seller is to tell them what they want to hear about price.
There is a term for this in real estate. It is called buying the listing.
The agent comes in, asks what you think your home is worth, hears your number, and agrees with it. Maybe even nudges it a little higher. You feel validated. You feel like he believes in your home. You sign with him because he seemed the most confident and the most aligned with your goals.
Six weeks later the showings have slowed. Eight weeks later he is having a gentle conversation about a price reduction. Three months later you are exactly where an honest agent would have started, except now you have lost time, lost momentum, and trained the market to wonder what is wrong with your house.
He got what he wanted on day one. You are still waiting.
The agent who tells you the truth feels like the pessimist
This is the part that is hard to hear. The agent who comes in and gives you the real number, the one based on evidence rather than what you want to hear, often loses the interview. He feels like the guy who doesn’t believe in your home. The others felt more enthusiastic.
Enthusiasm is easy. It costs nothing. Honest counsel is the thing worth paying for.
What to do instead
Talk to one or two agents you have a reason to trust. A referral from someone whose judgment you respect. Someone with a real track record in your neighborhood and price point. Have a straight conversation about condition, timing, and price. If the numbers make sense and the person seems honest, move forward.
You do not need to interview five people. You need to find one person who will tell you the truth and then do the work.
I have been doing this in Fort Wayne for twelve years. When I sit down with a seller I tell them what their home is worth, what it needs, what it doesn’t need, and what they can realistically expect to walk away with. If the numbers don’t work for them right now I tell them that too.
No buying the listing. No inflated numbers to win the interview. Just a straight conversation.
If that sounds like what you’re looking for, call me or visit my website.
David Barlag
Fort Wayne Realtor, Century 21 Bradley Realty
260-750-5737
davidbarlag.com