“Psssst Hey we can get you a lot more for your home than that other Realtor, oh and by the way we just opened our new regional real estate office in Tijuana”

Here is some good unsolicited advice to consider when you are choosing a Realtor and deciding what strategic price point you want to set for your home as you come out of the gate and open up bidding on your home. When you sign your listing agreement, unless there is already a pre-arranged buyer in place to close within minutes of the home appearing on the Orange County MLS (a smart marketing tool to the listing agent if a buyer was secured without the need of marketing on the internet, publicly) no one knows what the home will eventually sell for – no one. If a real estate claims that “I can definitely get you ‘this much’ or ‘that much’” when ‘that much’ is not significantly below prevailing market rates – they are not telling you the truth.

What is the fair market value of an Orange County home? I am glad you asked! It is the amount that the buyer and seller agree that it is (I could throw in a lot of big words and stuff like that but it is not more complicated than this). Since the Realtor is not You nor the Seller, how can “They” tell You how much the home will eventually sell for? Are they the ones who are making the final decision in this real estate transaction? Any Realtor making claims to being able to secure a certain amount of market value – again if this amount is not below current market values – is not a straight shooter, playing financial Russian roulette with your family’s home equity. Put another way: Can a stock broker predict what the market value of a stock will be in 30 days? How about 60 days? If they claimed that they could the Feds would probably throw them in the can. If a seasoned stock broker with a series 7, 63 and whatever other licenses they are required to carry these days can’t predict a blue-chip stock like Apple over the next 30 days, how can a Realtor figure out the final sales price of your home? They can’t, only you can, you and the buyer.

What is the point of this article? When you are ready to sell your home, you want to be in and out of the transaction as fast as possible – at the best possible price. The phrase time is money is hyper-sensitive here in Orange County real estate, more so here than anywhere else in the United States. BanCorp Realty buys and sells real estate faster than any other Orange County Realtor, and you need to have the home priced well to start with, but if it is not perfect don’t fret. You could spend weeks going through the “on your mark, get set…” “on your mark, get set…” never making it to “Go” because you and you were so concerned with pricing the home perfectly from the start.

In my opinion, the most important thing is to make sure you are working with a master marketing real estate company – this is where you really make value in your home. If you Realtor is able to get new eyes on your home that other Realtors can’t, you are way ahead of the game. More views on your home should translate into more offers leading to increasing demand on your home which can only drive up prices. Remember, only you and the buyer will finalize the true market value of the home. You could price your home 100,000 over market or 100,000 under market to start with – it really doesn’t matter, eventually at sale it will close at a price close to prevailing market rates at exact final selling price agreed upon by You and the Seller.

BanCorp Realty buys and sells real estate faster than any other Orange County real estate agency. That is why our trademark is easier and faster™ real estate. BanCorp Realty has been serving Orange County Real Estate since 1995 and serves each local Orange County Neighborhood.