Choosing an Agent - Part 2

When we left off, I had two suggested listing prices - $290K and $190K. Obviously, I want the $290K. What I don't want is to have the agent list it at $290K and then immediately start to lower my expectations. I know it happens.

Yes, we are selling for health reasons, but I don't want to have a fire sale. We don't actually NEED to be out of here until November when it starts getting cold again. But on the other hand, now that the decision has been made, there's no need to hang around. I want to get it done.

We'd planned to spend the rest of our lives here and we'd made improvements accordingly. New windows, new doors, new gutters, a 12 x 16 barn - they make the house look nicer but we probably wouldn't have done any of those things if we'd known we were going to move. But it's okay, those things should help us get a good price.

Another avenue we looked at was the online "we'll make this easy for you" people, like Open Door. I filled out their online inquiry form and found out that they do not operate in my city. Then I saw an add for Knock. Apparently they have several different programs but nobody took the time to explain the different options to me. They just sent someone out to my house. I showed her around, she took pictures and the next day a guy phoned me to tell me I needed to remove all the wallpaper in my house and paint the walls magnolia, and that if I did all that, I might be able to get close to $200K. He explained to me that it was all based on some very "sophisticated" algorithms. But it's just more work than I want to do and like the Ebby agent's "scientific" analysis - there are just too many things it didn't take into account.

I mentioned my dilemma to my CPA who gave me her son-in-law's business card. I called him and he came out with another member of his team. He'd already looked the house up in the tax records, and on Zillow. He had comps - much the same as the other two agents who'd turned up. But more than that - he was excited about the possibilities! He was even more excited when he saw the back yard, the storm shelter and the barn. He was pleased that the house has a good sized laundry room, especially when so many houses don't have anything more than a closet for the washer and dryer.

He told me about his database of investors/buyers both in and out of state. He told me about different marketing avenues and ideas for generating interest in the property. He showed me a sample of the 3-D virtual tour that he uses. He uses a professional stager and a professional photographer. It comes out of his earnings on the sale, not mine.

I didn't have to ask him why I should list with him. He told me without me having to ask.

We haven't set a price yet, which is okay because it isn't going on the market officially until we leave for England. And he's arranged a meeting with someone from the city next week to talk about developments in town which might have a positive impact on the pricing of my house. I'm impressed.

I think we chose wisely.