Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Price

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
Post Reply
Topic Author
caseynshan
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:11 pm

Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Price

Post by caseynshan »

Hi, I'm looking for a real estate agent to help my MIL sell house.

Narrowed it down to two based on suggestions from previous post ( http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 2&t=119065 )

Is there a way to look up the last few sales for an agent and see their start price, sale price, days on market.

So if one agent tells us the place is worth 60k but they always sell for 95% of their start price, but the other one says its worth 65k but they always do 3 price drops.. i will have a better idea of the true price (and the better agent)

casey

(Edit) location is St. Pete FL
TheOscarGuy
Posts: 1563
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:10 pm
Location: Where I wanna be.

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by TheOscarGuy »

caseynshan wrote:Hi, I'm looking for a real estate agent to help my MIL sell house.

Narrowed it down to two based on suggestions from previous post ( http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 2&t=119065 )

Is there a way to look up the last few sales for an agent and see their start price, sale price, days on market.

So if one agent tells us the place is worth 60k but they always sell for 95% of their start price, but the other one says its worth 65k but they always do 3 price drops.. i will have a better idea of the true price (and the better agent)

casey

(Edit) location is St. Pete FL
I don't know if redfin (redfin.com) works for your area. If it does, I would just ask the realtor last properties he/she sold and then check on redfin the property list price, and price at which they were sold.

But if it were me, I would simply ask them. They are getting commission from my business, and I think its a fair question to ask them.
Topic Author
caseynshan
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:11 pm

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by caseynshan »

TheOscarGuy wrote: But if it were me, I would simply ask them. They are getting commission from my business, and I think its a fair question to ask them.
I agree, but not easy to verify if they skipped one.. (presumably the one where they had 4 price drops and was on the market for 9 months :) )
stan1
Posts: 14246
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:35 pm

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by stan1 »

Remember the price is set by the owner, not the agent. The agent makes a recommendation which the owner may or may not modify. Often owners do not price the house to sell quickly; they want to hold out for the "right" buyer. I think what you'll likely get from the agent is a story about how he/she recommended the owner list at $100K, but the owner instead chose to list at $120K. Price was dropped to $115K, then $105K, then eventually the house sold at $97K 6 months later.

Volume (number of houses sold -- not number of active listings) is probably a better metric. There are several realtors in my neighborhood who have sold 500+ houses in their 20+ careers. I'm much more confident going with one of them than someone who has sold 5 houses in the past 5 years.

You'll have to decide whether you want to price the house to sell quickly, or price it higher and possibly wait for the "right" buyer.
Warning: I am about 80% satisficer (accepting of good enough) and 20% maximizer
User avatar
mojave
Posts: 393
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:59 am

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by mojave »

Agree completely with stan1. My mom is a realtor and has been in the business for over 20 years. Has sold many many, many houses. The list market time and price in my opinion have the smallest reflection of how good a realtor is. List time is affected by price and price is decided on solely by the owner. The realtor recommends a price based on factual information. Many people get greedy and overprice their home and it will sit for a very long time until they get realistic. My mom has been featured in Chicago magazines and even she has had nightmare clients that overprice by $50k to $100k or more and have the house sit for over a year.
Topic Author
caseynshan
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:11 pm

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by caseynshan »

stan1 wrote: Volume (number of houses sold -- not number of active listings) is probably a better metric.
Is there a way to find the volume of sales for an agent.

Casey
User avatar
soaring
Posts: 1441
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:09 am
Location: North Central Florida

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by soaring »

zip realty is in St Pete. go to zip.com and set up on line account. no charge no problem. I've done this with zip numerous times. An agent will contact you via email but no hassles.

When I used the service some years ago it showed the price changes from original list price along with the dates. They also provided a 1% kick back to buyer which I received on two different purchases thru them. I used the online service for many many months without them bothering me other than a ph call every few months.

http://www.ziprealty.com/homes-for-sale ... L/detailed

Also Florida permits online search of property in County data base. So you can learn the history of all sales and much more info from the property tax rolls.

http://www.pcpao.org/
use search our database
Desiderata
User avatar
runner9
Posts: 2260
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by runner9 »

I agree with Stan1 as well. We got to open houses in the neighborhood, just for fun. To often the realtor will be honest and say something like "the kids are willing to hold out till prices go up" or something like that. The realtor would have priced it lower to sell. They would now lower it if they could. The seller has control to decide price.
stan1
Posts: 14246
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:35 pm

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by stan1 »

You might be able to look at recent sales on Zillow/Trulia to see who the listing agent was. Somtimes it shows the agent, sometimes the agency (less useful since most agencies have dozens of realtors), and sometimes its blank. You can also look on these sites to see agents in your zip code who have active listings.

You can also ask the agent. As with any sales job a successful agent will be proud of their sales metrics. If the agent is evasive the answer is probably not a good one. If the agent lies about their sales metrics you have other problems.
Warning: I am about 80% satisficer (accepting of good enough) and 20% maximizer
User avatar
runner9
Posts: 2260
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by runner9 »

Or how about asking each realtor how they determine their suggested price, how long they would suggest leaving it at that price before making a change, etc. See how complete and thought out the answer is.
Topic Author
caseynshan
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:11 pm

Re: Can you check Realtor's last 3 sales List price->Sale Pr

Post by caseynshan »

Thanks for all the suggestions..

Agent picked. (with the help of questions from this forum..)

Tomorrow 401k Rollover. :)

casey
Post Reply