July 2016 // Real Estate & Home Builders Guide // 5M
An honest, open conversation
with your Realtor goes a long way
By Ilyce Glink and
Samuel J. Tamkin
Tribune Content Agency
Q
: Is it fair to ask my
Realtor if my house has
a “reasonable” chance of
selling at or near listing price?
The reason I’m asking is if
she says a sale at or above
the minimum amount I need
for my next purchase looks
reasonable then I’ll go ahead
now and purchase the lot for
my next home.
I understand there are no
guarantees, but I don’t want
to lose my lot, so I’m trying to
hedge my bet here. Thoughts?
: Let’s start at the top:
You should feel free to
ask your Realtor any question
you want about your home,
and about the home-selling
process. We wonder why you
wouldn’t automatically assume
you have that right, and we
wonder what else you’re not
asking the person you’ve hired
to sell your home.
Next, the issue of the
whether your house should
sell at or near your listing
price is an excellent topic for
discussion because it focuses
on the most important decision
you’ll make in the process: the
list price.
How did you decide on the
list price for the property?
Did you survey several
Realtors in the area and ask
each to prepare a comparative
marketing analysis (CMA)?
If you just got a price from
the Realtor you hired, do you
know if she chose a “sky high”
price so that she would land
the listing or if she gave you
a reasonable and realistic list
price based on actual neighbor-
hood comps?
Another issue is price
A
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range. Homes that are in the
irst-time buyer range for your
neighborhood that are in great
shape and are priced well
should sell quickly. Heck, you
might even have a bidding war.
Even a more expensive
home that’s priced well given
the neighborhood comps,
and is in excellent condition,
should sell relatively quickly.
However, homes priced at the
higher end for a neighborhood
could take much longer to sell.
The good news is in many
areas of the country, there
simply aren’t enough homes on
the market to satisfy all of the
buyers who want to purchase
them. So, homes that are
reasonably priced and are in
great shape (and don’t have any
lingering issues) should sell.
The inal issue for you to
think about is what happens if,
for some reason, the housing
market in your neighborhood
turns after you buy your lot.
How much of a inancial
runway do you actually
have? What kind of inancial
hardship would you be setting
yourself up for?
We’d hate for you to pay
cash for the lot (it’s dificult to
inance vacant lots) and then
not be able to sell your home
for a year, only to have to
substantially reduce the price).
That’s the kind of inancial
setback you might not recover
from for a long time.
But if you have the where-
withal to make that kind of
purchase, even if you have to
eat a moderate price reduction,
and you absolutely are sure
this is the lot you want, then
go ahead. Because taking a
moderate risk might be worth
it.
You and your Realtor have
a lot to talk about. So, have
a deep, open conversation
about what’s selling in your
neighborhood today, and then
igure out whether you’ll be
able to sleep at night if you buy
the lot before your home sells.
Ilyce Glink is the creator
of an 18-part webinar+ebook
series called “The Intentional
Investor: How to be wildly
successful in real estate,” as
well as the author of many
books on real estate. She
also hosts the “Real Estate
Minute,” on her YouTube
channel. Samuel J. Tamkin is
a Chicago-based real estate
attorney. Contact Ilyce and
Sam through her website,
ThinkGlink.com.