Ever thought about selling your home? tried it? Did the agent offer you a too-good-to-refuse listing price, and did they tell you that they could get that much for you?
I bet they did. This is something you need to watch out for, if your thinking of selling and you have interviewed and sat through a few agent's presentations then you should see the differences in the value they put on your home.
Now i realize that your home is yours and it has significant value that only YOU can see. Agents are aware of this value and they ADD it to the REAL value of your house and tell you the new “realistic” value that they can be sure of achieving for you.
Before you listen to this make sure you have someone already value your house, a proper valuer unrelated to any real estate offices. This is important so that you can effectively get the correct value of your house. The main reason you need to get this information correct the FIRST time is simple;
You list with an agent who tells you he can sell your house for 100k more than what you think its worth. After 2 months of advertising it at the high price he tells you "the market has changed and your property is no longer worth that much” beware of this! Not only are you now unhappy with whatever price you get as it will be LOWER than what you were quoted, but your house has been exposed to 2 months worth of advertisements. People saw your house and thought that its too high, not only that its been advertised for so long and now there"s a price drop! Wonder what's wrong with the house? It now gets what we call a bad reputation.
To be on the safe side always have your house pre-valued before you find an agent. That way, when an agent quotes you a REAL price then you know you are in safe hands. But keep in mind, it is natural to list your house above what its worth for the simple reason of negotiation. People will rarely see a house and buy it at the price stated. They will find small faults or just be plain greedy and negotiate the price lower. This is no excuse to put an additional 80k + on your house though. It simply will not sell.
