Why You Can’t Trust Real Estate Agents When Selling A House

These two articles are SPOT ON accurate! I have been on both sides of the buyer and seller fence. I sold my last house all by myself using one of the DIY MLS services for a very small fee. This meant I only had to deal with shady, “carpet bagger” buyer’s agents. Dealing directly with these pushy, arrogant, know-it-all folks was exhausting and one of the worst experiences of my life. Still, I would have done it exactly the same way again.

It was a difficult journey, but I am convinced the process would have been much worse and more complicated had I used a listing agent. My research at the time included advice from my realtor mother and attorney father. The points made in these articles are much what I learned myself from personal experiences and research. I learned early on in the process that I would not allow ANYONE to bully me. You need to make a conscious decision about that, because you will start to doubt your own judgment at times.

The first offer came early summer 2013 and was about 35% lower than the asking price. The buyer’s agent said I was unrealistic to walk away and I simple said, “I don’t care about what’s good for your clients. I only care about what’s good for me and my family. This is our home and we expect market value. If the house sits on the market for years and looks like damaged goods to some people, so be it. I don’t care.” I always felt great playing hard ball. Not only was it exactly how I felt (ie, the truth), but it panned out to my advantage in the end.

I got the second offer in the middle of winter 2014 from a young couple who had seen the house back in summer. All at once, housing prices rising and inventory dwindling. We settled in March. It was the highest price a comparable house sold for in my neighborhood since 2008! Yes, you read that right. It took a seller who was not a realtor to yield the highest sales price in my neighborhood since the real estate bubble burst in 2008. So much for realtor “special skills and powers.”

Still, I look back and believe I could have gotten a bit more from that buyer. I agreed to pay settlement costs and regret that now. That was my one moment of weakness when I allowed the buyer’s agent to convince me that they’d walk over settlement costs. He had me right where he wanted me. I had some post inspection items to resolve and was, all at once, eager to sell and move on.

Nowadays with online MLS services, a home owner really can weather that storm without a listing agent. Having said that, you need to understand what you will face doing it yourself and be prepared to hire a real estate lawyer during negotiations if you aren’t sure about anything. You will still come out ahead financially but you do have to represent yourself as well as you can. From that point of view, agents will always have customers for the same reason that many people can’t be bothered cooking for themselves and choose to eat every meal out.

I was realistic about the market, did my homework, and got into quite a few arguments with realtors over the logic of my price. I called home appraisers who refuted realtor assertions about comp markets needing to be within various fractions of a mile! If you live in an area where the nearest comps are miles away, that’s where appraisers will go for comps. The lies and misinformation I heard from realtors during this process was astounding.

We also worked twice with realtors representing both buyer (us) and seller. These were foreclosure properties and in both cases we walked away after realizing one property had been owned by a meth user/maker and the other was a tear down (not worth expensive foundation repairs). Both of those agents (who assured us they were representing us) completely withheld information from us that we needed to know. Yes, it IS a conflict of interest but the author of this article is correct in stating that you can’t trust realtors either way. You need to be smarter than they are, at least where your own interests are concerned. If you hear things running around in the walls, you’ve got a rat or squirrel problem. If you see graffiti on the walls and evidence of animals not being let out to relieve themselves, you’ve more than likely had meth heads living there. Cracks in the foundation you can often see yourself before booking an expensive home inspection. Do your homework and trust your instincts/gut feelings. At the same time, a house can look spotless and have dangerous toxins in and behind the walls, mold in crawlspaces, etc. Looks can also be deceiving! Talk to neighbors, look up local crime and meth lab reports if you have any suspicions.

My wife and I are ready to buy again. After all we’ve been through and learned over the years, we are trying to avoid realtors as much as possible. When I bought my last house, I was later angry that our agent didn’t show us a neighborhood that we would have much preferred. We were new to the area, living hours away at the time, and depended on him to educate us. Lesson learned: educate yourself as much as possible before starting that process.

Yes, a buyer’s agent will try to get you to settle on/make an offer on the first property you like a lot. Never mind that there are other properties you haven’t seen elsewhere that you’d prefer. For instance, if you are moving to a city and want to be outside city limits for whatever reason (lower cost, more space, better schools, fresher air, etc), make sure you understand the pros and cons of living north, south, east and west of that city. For instance, if your work situation changes, where will you likely commute to?

I also don’t like that lenders and realtors often work together. I contacted a lender recently through an agent I met at an open house. This lender automatically assumes we are working with that agent (some sort of kickback there) and sending me documents naming that agent as our agent.
We were never asked who our agent is!

This article is absolutely correct. I have interacted with over a thousand realtors as a buyer and seller and it is the same story. In reality, with the new apps out there, the only thing you need a realtor for is a security blanket and also to get referrals to settlement attorneys and title agents if you don’t trust your own judgement to find one on your own.
Realtors are somewhat of a liability since they are motivated by getting a commission in the shortest possible time frame, generally are negotiating with that objective as the primary motivation, sometimes do not research the comps based on actual sales and so have very little idea what a buyer might actually pay. The ego of some of the more prominent realtors who are interested in selling volumes of homes to keep their ranking will pressure you to list at a very low price, pretending that the low list price will inspire a bidding war (yeah right). A realtor needs only sit through a 60 hour on line course and take a course exam and a state/national exam both of which take less than 2 hours each. Ask yourself if this qualifies them to take a 6 percent commission (however you want to split it between the parties). 6 percent for what exactly? Walking you around the house to conduct a lesson in the names of rooms?
The industry is filled with salespeople who are hired by brokers, who hang their shingle in the office, and then never talk to them or supervise them again until the sale, and then only to manage the escrow and collect their portion of the percentage. If you doubt this just go to any realty site and scroll through the agents and see just how many listings each agent has, you will find that there are a handful of agents who dominate the number of listings the broker has and the others may have a few listings, if any.
The industry provides advertising on the MLS and the internet which a buyer can do on their own for less than $500, takes pictures of the property for $300, and hangs a shingle on the property, may sit in the house conducting open houses a few times….might advertise your property with flyers and a brochure less than $500….and since a realtors license only costs about $200 for the course, $60 for the test, $60 for fingerprinting, and $20 for registration, and $60 for the proctor for the exam the total outlay is insignificant compared to 3% of a properties total value.
It has been my experience that this article is absolutely accurate in describing the extent of the rational and logic and negotiating skills realtors possess. Anyone who has other viewpoints is good hearted, but naïve.

You are obviously a big idiot. I am a REALTOR and work very hard at what I do. I take offense to the way you group all agents as if they were scum. I must tell you that 95% of my business comes from previous clients and referrals. I work 7 days out of the week, many weeks of the year. I’m not complaining, I love what I do and chose this as my career. The majority of current agents have many years of continuing education, as this is required, to include degrees. You seem to have all the answers. I bet you are one of the ones that thinks yours is gold and everything else is silver. You probably couldn’t pass the courses required to get a license. What you fail to mention is that hardly any sellers have a clue what their home is worth! That is why they call a professional that does this everyday to determine a value. We are taught the tools to determine value but know it all people like you think its a big game and you should always ask for more. Why don’t you shadow a busy REALTOR for 1 complete transaction and see what it’s like. People like you have watched too many episodes of Desperate Housewives and think all we do is sit around sipping cocktails and waiting on the phone to ring so that we can show 1 home and collect a check. The reality is that finding a home and putting it under contract are the easy steps. The real job begins when the home goes under contract. First, we have to wait on the buyer to complete a home inspection and discovers all the stuff you ignored over the years and don’t want to repair but you still want full price. The irony is that you want everything repaired on the home you’re moving to and want it for less. Second, we have to get through the appraisal process. This is where any informed and educated agent has previously searched the comps and most likely knows approx. what the value will come in at. This is why your agent may be advising you that you had a good offer. Third, we have to spend countless hours on the phone with the attorneys and the lenders, which you are never bothered with, trying to keep the process moving along as smoothly as possible. My point is that any professional agent will tell you that we must wear hats to get your home to the closing table and we do all of this absolutely free unless your house sells.

THE BEST ARTICLE I HAVE READ ON THE SUBJECT! I actually got a call tonight on my fsbo from a realtor (one of 1000) who wants to sign my house, but says they just want to preview it. She then asked me if I have had people come through who were looking for something else, did I have their names and could I give them to her, and from here on could I do that for her. WHAT???? Unbelievable!!!! Realtors are sneaky, out for their jobs (money, not clients), cliquey and despicable.

I love your articles, and you are 100% correct in everything you say about real estate agents and yes they are all tarred with the same brush, because they all get the same training, and the points you’ve made above are things they are “taught” to say and do.
Thank you for the info you’ve provide and for making it easier for people like me to understand ways of better protecting myself.

Mindy

realtors are basically pirates, and their profession should be illegal. I have bought and sold 4 houses in different areas of the country, using a realtor in each transaction.
when I bought my first house, my realtor (who was also a real estate lawyer), bascially threatened me into buying a house for which he also was the listing agent. I was too young and naive to know any better. he had shown me quite a few houses over several months time (I had moved to the area from another part of the country, and the housing options were completely different from anything I had ever seen before). when he showed me this particular listing, he said if I didn’t buy it, he was going to charge me for all the time he had spent showing me houses; he was going to charge me his hourly lawyer’s fee for time spent showing me houses as my realtor. I didn’t have the cash to pay legal fees at his discretion, so I bought the house for the price his client had set. when I sold that house, I had to pay for a central air/heat system with ductwork to be installed because the house was not up to “code”. apparently, the codes had changed in the 3 years I lived there.

the next house I bought was one sold “by owner”, and there were NO problems involved in that transaction AT ALL. however, when I sold it, my listing agent decided that my house was perfect for one of her friend’s sons, so she promised my house to him. problem was, she promised it to him for a price that was $40,000 below what I listed the house for. she kept all other realtors from showing my house; I would see people drive by and stop to get the info from the sign in the yard, and never have ANY showings of the house. one day, I was working in the yard, and an out-of-town realtor stopped and talked to me about seeing my house, but when she called my agent, she had told her it wasn’t available. turns out, that was how my listing agent was going to try to force me to sell my house to her friend at the price she had promised him. I called the owner of her real estate office, and explained the situtation to him, tellling him I was going to sue them for this breach of contract. the house sold for $160,000 in 3 days.

I have 3 more horror stories if anyone is interested.

It’s a tough profession. Why would anyone want to do it? Oh, that’s right because it’s easy money…. think again! I’m a residential real estate Broker and I do it because I love houses and the idea of homeownership and I like helping people. I work weekends, I’ve worked on holidays, I work in the evenings. Why should I feel ashamed about wanting to get paid? It’s the one profession where the paycheck is public knowledge. I work because I want to make a living and provide for my family. But I don’t use that as motivation for listing your property high or low. My goal is to list it at market value so that it sells timely. (within 3mos) Pricing a house is about finding equilibrium- I find that usually happens within 3mos. Real estate agents don’t create the market. It’s not rocket science but we do add value to the transaction. Keep in mind, if the house doesn’t close we don’t get paid. If the buyer brings ditches me and uses their real estate friend or relative to “save” the commission, I don’t get paid. We do the work upfront and try to minimize risk… we want the house to sell. Could you imagine working diligently and honestly for your boss and in the end not getting paid? We are NOT the decision makers the client has the ultimate control. However, there is value in hiring a professional. I’m sorry that so many people have had bad experiences. There are good agents out there.

I feel badly that you all seem to have had bad experiences with your agents. And it is not your agents fault that you didn’t read your contract. Offering 5% in Scottsdale isn’t going to get an cooperating agent to show your home anyway. First, as listing agents, we have to pay the other agent. You think we should work for 2.5%. Not happening at least not with me. 6% is my fee. 3% I pay to the other agent. I value my time, my market area knowledge and my experience. If your house is priced appropriately and you have a good agent, they will be spending money on marketing, advertising and a lot of time and effort. You seem to be there pro – good luck in negotiations. You all need to NOT listen to this yahoo and get an agent. Otherwise your leaving money on the table. We don’t want our listings on the market accumulating days either. If you were my client (which you would’t be), I’d fire you. Go get your license and see how easy it is. HAHAHA…..

Also after reading this stream of comments, we also need to remember that what works in my area geographically of expertise is not the same as what is the GOLD STANDARD in another area.

My husband and I have interviewed 3 real estate agents in hopes of listing our home for sale. They all use the same ” comp ” formula to determine the market value of our home…even though they tell us there are no actual comparables for our house. Two of the three agents used poor grammar while speaking and also in emails to us…one even wrote us an email and had our house # incorrect…along with very poor grammar. I also found two of them to be quite gossipy about specific sales/ sellers in our small town here that made me very uncomfortable…after all if we hired one of them what would they be saying behind our backs? And the last straw was one of them actually brought a friend of hers that was paying her a flat fee to assist in possibly buying a house as a quick private sale…she spent more time in my husbands home office with him trying to convince him that we should list the house with her…wouldn’t that be considered a conflict of interest? I have come to the conclusion that they are all pretty much like used car salesman…yes a 2 door coupe with a sunroof will likely sell for more than a 4 door sedan but we have a beautiful home and 35 years of non stop compliments that should amount to a little more than the generic 3 bedroom 1.5 bathroom

Just had my realtor tell me he wanted to discontinue his listing with me. I told him I wanted to lower the price and was shocked he didn’t want to lower it. I spoke with another agent and told her of the situation and she said that it is such a hot market that an agent doesn’t want his/her name associated with a listing that has to lower their price. WOW! Has anyone heard this one before? Granted, it was a low commission listing but I was trying to make it easy. Also, why take a low commission in the first place?
The other realtor suggested that since he kept pushing his “photographer” on me that he might be getting a kickback for the affiliate sale.

Interviewing realtor and found they seriously want to list my house for much less than I know we can get. We are on a unique property, 20 yr old house mostly updated and in excellent cindition, with acreage in city limits. We have many interesting features including a very large pool, lots of mature trees, dual HVAC, dial water heaters including instant hot water heater , as well as the usual amenities. There are no comps. We feel that due to the uniqueness, someone will either pay what we believe is FMV, or close to it, or we aren’t interested in selling. I’m angry that the agents want to low ball so badly just to make a quick sale. We aren’t desperate to move and if they aren’t going to sell and market the great points of our home, then we are better off not selling or doing a FSBO.

The most unfortunate aspect of this article is that a percentage (hopefully small) of readers will believe it is true. It is rife with fallacious arguments and sadly lacking on any research or fact based argument. Grammar and usage errors are just icing on the cake.

This is the “money smart blog”… If the article is indicative of the critical thinking ability of the author, I’d look elsewhere for financial advice or “money smarts”.

I just listed my home. the broker determined that my home should be listed for 230,000. I volunteered to list it for 280,000 .
At the end of the listing process she explained the dual agency . I did not care for it but agreed ,because chances are great that I would get a conventional offer-. On the chance that I get a dual agency offer AE: my listing agent brings me an offer , I wont let her present the offer in person, as that presentation would Segway into a give and take of ideas and suggestions from the dual agency broker.
I will represent myself ,the offer will be mailed to me.

Since I listed the home for less than the broker suggested , and because its a dual agency I will refuse offers of less than listing price and no give backs at the closing . A clean uncomplicated deal.

I probably will negotiate a offer that is clearly not a dual agency.

Dual agency is a clear conflict of interest.

Mathew 24.6 :No man can serve two masters .

I’m pretty naive when it comes to real estate – I purchased my first and only property (a unit) from my older brother 12 years ago at a very reasonable price. Unfortunately I’ve gotten myself into a very bad situation financially and along with multiple debt collectors I owe a crap load to strata – basically because they don’t do anything and I don’t see why I should pay for a service that is clearly not provided! Simple things like leaking ceilings, rubbish removal, gardening and general maintenance.

Now I am desperately trying to sell to help relieve some financial stresses. I had a couple who were approved by their bank (after the banks evaluators had been to see it) to buy it at a reduced price of $220K just 2 weeks ago, unfortunately they decided to use their current home as an investment and buy bigger.

I spoke to my strata agent yesterday who told me they were going to start chasing me for the arrears, I mentioned that I was trying to sell but it didn’t go through. They had one of their agents call me and he said he had an investor who would take it now – I made a time that suited my tenant and the agent turned up to look at the unit this morning.

When I asked my tenant how he thought it went he said “they” were really impressed with it – it’s fully renovated – they were saying how nicely done it was and the “other agent” was talking about ripping out the kitchen and putting in all sorts of fandangle things – a bit odd I thought for an agent to be talking about redoing a property for sale.

Anyhow, the agent rang this afternoon and told me he had turned up there with “another agent” and unfortunately due to the presentation of my unit and the fact that one sold (by him to an investor) in the complex just recently for $168K mine is not worth anymore than $170K… Even though mine has been completely renovated and the other is completely original – all 30 years worth of original! When I told him I was not interested in selling for $50K less than what I was willing to sell for he kept saying “oh but in the current market” really? The market has dropped $50,000 in just under two weeks?

My guess is the “other agent” was infact his investor mate and they’re trying to get it cheap. I facebook stalked the little terd, and in 2 years he has sold 17 properties – obviously he is only interested in the sales.

I’m furious, I’m pissed that he has so slyly tried to back door me! But what I’m even more annoyed about is the fact that he mentioned my strata arrears saying “well if we don’t get a contract signed asap they will just go straight to stage 3” I’m assuming he means court?

They can’t force me to sell my property for that price when a bank had valued the place at $220,000 can they?

What’s the difference between a pitbull on a hot dog and a Realtor on a client? Nothing at all

They are sharks in the water . Beware.

Nailed it! I have been in rental property management for 10 years and I had my license for less than a year. I finally quit it all because I didn’t like myself. Real estate is an extremely emotional purchase for people and realtors prey on it. I couldn’t believe the things I heard and saw agents do to try to make a sale. They are completely heartless people and I certainly felt like, “I sold my soul”, working in that industry. Sell your own house, list it in the paper, put it on craigslist, have your own open house! Its not that hard really try it. If it doesn’t sell fast enough rent it out and make money off of it. If you have it rented then its not an expense its income!

RECENT SCAM EXAMPLE

Just recently we went to purchase a multi-unit home. Below are all the scams we got from the listing agent.

Sellers agent-there is another family interested because they want to live on one side and the daughter on the other and that’s why its vacant. They wanted to live in it.
Me -why are all the appliances gone? Why would you kick out paying renters till all inspections were completed and closing date set?

– we wanted the foundation looked at so the sellers agent had a guy (rod) meet us there and he said it was old settling and it wouldn’t move anymore even though Rod never stepped inside
-his partner Bob did go inside and look (just him and my husband) Bob told my husband it was bad and it was really moving and you coyuld see where they recently tried to patch it and it was coming off. Bob said we would have to jack up one corner and replace the foundation. But when Bob came out Rod was saying it was fine and gave Bob a look so he didn’t say a word and just got in the truck.

Sellers agent- also told me that I couldn’t get an average on utilities because I had town the home before ameren would give me that information(total crap)

I did not argue with her we just walked away and told her we were not interested and wished her good luck with her other buyers!

Realtors will do and say any lie to make a sale go through.
Good luck!

I am so happy none of you are my clients. Contrary to some of your beliefs, I do care about my clients! There are sharks in all sales jobs. This a career and life long passion for me, not some sleazy sales job. You all seem to THINK you know what you are doing and frankly, it will come back to bite you and then you will be calling an agent, who by the way, and the numbers prove, is going to get you top dollar for your home. And shame on you Money Smarts for insinuating that all agents are ruthless and unethical. You all will get exactly what you deserve. Oh wait – most of you did. Karma is a good thing.

Wow, so the whole point of this article is to paint in hugely broad strokes everyone in the real estate profession with the same brush and to encourage people to rant about their own experience, some noting the profession should be illegal lol. You know this is life….whether it’s your realtor, your lawyer, your bank, your auto mechanic, your plumber, you get the idea…there are those in every profession who will do their all and those who will just do the minimum and those who will screw you.

People, that’s life. I’ve had entirely fine experiences, perhaps you could ask more pointed questions, stay on top of your own business when hiring someone? Ah but this is often the point of the internet, the soapbox.

The title of this article gives quite a bit of insight as to the author’s intentions to discredit the Realtor Community. While he sprinkles in just enough truth to give the illusion of credibility, he couldn’t be more witless if he tried.

First of all, there are good and bad Realtors just like there are good and bad Doctors, Lawyers, Mechanics, etc. His absurd, know it all attitude about Realtors is woefully misleading to say the least. His advice assumes you’ll be working with the worst Realtor in your neighborhood and while there are many poor Realtors out there, they are not indicative of the above average and elite Realtors who far outnumber them.

A good Realtor will offer sound advice that puts the client’s best interests above his or her commission. They will work hard to meet your goals and will not only listen to your wants and needs but will understand and respect them. They won’t count how many open houses they need to do or how much effort it will take to bring a buyer willing to pay a fair price.

Yes, they will try to sell your home as quickly as possible but only if the offer is at or near current market value. A good agent won’t advise a client to accept an offer significantly below market value while the listing is still fresh (unless the seller has declared they are more interested in a quick sale than getting the best price).

I could go on but most of you understand my point by now. Instead of trying to paint all Realtors with the same pathetic brush, the author could have suggested useful methods of determining which are the poor, average and elite Realtors. It would have been more helpful to readers if he would have suggested intelligent questions you can ask a Realtor to help decide which one is best for you.

It’s not necessarily the Realtor with the most sales or listings that offers the best service to their clients. The best Realtors will offer you a high level of integrity, will put their client’s needs first and will always offer honest advice without ever considering how it will affect their commission.

Instead of pretending to be some kind of “expert” and giving poor advice about Realtors in general, the author needs to come to terms with the fact that he hasn’t a clue about how to choose a good Realtor. He clearly needs to learn how to do so before his next sale or purchase.

Hmmm….. You, like all people, see what you want to see and not what you are looking at. You, teach people how to treat you. You, are the common denominator in all your experiences. If you seek people that will abuse you guess what? You find them! Imagine taking a little responsibility for your life!

RE is hugely emotional as Brokers help people with the largest investments of their life. Brokers/Agents are simply an easy target for your arrogant non-sense. Of course there are a few bad apples in the business. Is this the best you can do, stereotyping and then slamming an easy target? Do you sadly get a rush by the responses or feel intelligent or empowered by this crap? Love the comment from the woman who said she would fire you if you were her client. ME TOO! Are you making any kind of contribution at all to this world spewing this garbage?

Most of Brokers/Agents work extremely hard on their clients behalf and most care deeply. The national average is that 1 in 20 licensed Realtors stick with the business after the first year and that’s in good years. I have closed well over $100m in RE sales as licensed Broker. My clients are highly educated successful people and almost 100% of them have hired me again after the first transactions. Are they stupid or uninformed?

The world can use more people writing about the countless positive things. If you spent a fraction of the time most full time RE Brokers/Agents spend, in genuine service to their clients, you would then be making a real contribution. Until then, work on being the grease in the gears of the world rather than the sand.

Horrible opinionated article. Good people attract good people…there is bad and good people everywhere. In the end, finding someone who recommends someone as a real estate agent is much better. Amateur hour.

Well, my goodness. First off, let’s talk about the reputation that some agents have garnered for themselves. They are terrible at what they do. So get yourself an agent who cares and wants to help people reach their goals. Most of us struggle like mad in the first few years of Real Estate working to build a great reputation and satisfied customers. A Realtor getting both the buyer and seller side of the commission is not involved in a scam. They listed your property AND they brought you a qualified, motivated buyer. Where is the scam in that? They get the entire amount because they did twice the work. As to commission split, it works as some have said in other comments. Half of 6 percent to each side. Then that 3 percent is multiplied by the percentage the Realtor’s broker will pay, anywhere from 60 percent of the commission on up. The rest goes to the broker. No Realtor can work without a broker. Your license must be WITH a broker. Another respondent informed you that there are expenses associated with servicing a listing and with bringing buyers to a listed property. All this is true. We are independent contractors who get paid once the closing is successful. That’s it, there isn’t anything else. Perpetuating damaging myths about our profession is irresponsible. There are some Realtors who don’t know what they are doing, just like there are some journalists who persist in writing factually-challenged articles. That doesn’t give anyone license to condemn either of those professions.

I lost my Father last Month. )-: I live in his long-amortized ranch house in an Inner Suburb of Detroit (it IS changing and the Schools are getting Worse-which will negatively impact property values.) I got a spam letter and then a spam phone call from a guy who wants to “Help me” sell the house. I explained that there is a lot of junk in the basement and Garage that needs to go first, and I may make a few improvements. He cannot Wait to set up a meeting with me! He states that NO homes have been sold in this subdivision in the last three years. It IS true that I see no for sale signs around here.

shameful that the sleazy brokers (and they are out there, asin every industry) spoils the honest hard work of many ethical brokers out there…and many grateful sellers and buyers, actually the majority…on the other side brokers come across countless abusive, arrogant, know it all sellers and buyers, who don’t listen cause they think they know it all. As a broker my obligation is to my clients, period…and the truth makes sense. And hate to dissolution you all but YES your first offer is often your best….the agency, well the outcome will be the outcome, its all about bringing a buyer who qualifies and will close, and the most successful negotiation is when two parties walk away happy. Brokers are very important … or knock yourself out on your own…remember the brokerage community sells 90% or greater of transactions, and will not assist with no commitment from you fsbo sellers….and less activity yields less… and youll sift through the bargain hunters…