After countless unsolicited calls/texts from random phone numbers over the last 2 years inquiring about my house in New Braunfels, I decided to hear what one of them would have to say in person and met with a nice lady from a large national RE company and she visited with my wife and I for ~45min yesterday afternoon. She put on some hard sell tactics but didn't pressure me at all to sign with her, she just left the paperwork and recent comps.

I don't live in a super nice neighborhood but the homes that do get listed are sold in days. The comps she showed me weren't anywhere near where we live which I thought was confusing. She told me that we can't see the prices of the homes in my neighborhood that have sold recently because that data wasn't available. She thinks we can get ~$150/sf when I know for a fact that most of the homes were being listed prior at $175-$220/sf.

My question is, should I ask her to run different comps or is this pretty standard. I understand she wants to sell as fast as possible but I am in no hurry at all and truly believe I can get more than she predicted.

Any other info I should request from her? TIA

Have you looked into the realtors that actually sold in your neighborhood recently? I'd probably do that if picking someone out randomly. That's what we did very recently, along with doing some basic research on her background/reviews/reviewing her other listings/etc. Comps she provided during the consultation seemed accurate and she had the personal experience of selling (several times) in our immediate area.

I appreciate the responses. I'm going to talk to some neighbors this evening and try to get more info on realtors used because the signs don't stay up very long.

I use the Realtor App all the time to browse property but it won't let me access info in the "recently sold" menu, other than the location. Does Zillow offer that?

Also, the realtor I spoke to told me that she's not allowed anymore to broadcast "coming soon" until 24 hours before a listing goes live. Is that true?

Re: the coming soon question....yes I believe it is true. I talk with our realtor occassionally and she was telling me a month or so ago something to that effect and the market craziness in general.

So, I was curious about the comps that she referenced during her pitch (which she had printed out) so I looked in the folder that she left with us and guess what? They weren't even in there. She left everything but the comps. I'm assuming she did this because none of them were from my neighborhood and now that I think about it, none of the streets even sounded familiar. I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but I'm confident she low balled the hell out of me for a quick/easy sale.

Red Pear, I have your info and will reach out in the morning

Someone posted Redfin uses actual sales data and Zillow doesnt. But that was a while ago so no idea what they do currently. I would still want actual sales comps in the OP position.

Scud Runner said:

---

So, I was curious about the comps that she referenced during her pitch (which she had printed out) so I looked in the folder that she left with us and guess what? They weren't even in there. She left everything but the comps. I'm assuming she did this because none of them were from my neighborhood and now that I think about it, none of the streets even sounded familiar. I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but I'm confident she low balled the hell out of me for a quick/easy sale.

Red Pear, I have your info and will reach out in the morning

---

You could be correct, but you're probably giving her too much credit for recognizing a mistake. Most agents won't leave the comps. She shared the knowledge...right or wrong...if you decide to go with another agent you can use their comps.

Know1 said:

---

Scud Runner said:

---

So, I was curious about the comps that she referenced during her pitch (which she had printed out) so I looked in the folder that she left with us and guess what? They weren't even in there. She left everything but the comps. I'm assuming she did this because none of them were from my neighborhood and now that I think about it, none of the streets even sounded familiar. I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but I'm confident she low balled the hell out of me for a quick/easy sale.

Red Pear, I have your info and will reach out in the morning

---

You could be correct, but you're probably giving her too much credit for recognizing a mistake. Most agents won't leave the comps. She shared the knowledge...right or wrong...if you decide to go with another agent you can use their comps.

---

I don't think she made a mistake. I believe that she was purposely being misleading with irrelevant comps and didn't want to leave evidence.

Scud Runner said:

---

So, I was curious about the comps that she referenced during her pitch (which she had printed out) so I looked in the folder that she left with us and guess what? They weren't even in there. She left everything but the comps. I'm assuming she did this because none of them were from my neighborhood and now that I think about it, none of the streets even sounded familiar. I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but I'm confident she low balled the hell out of me for a quick/easy sale.

Red Pear, I have your info and will reach out in the morning

---

Outstanding.

Scud Runner said:

---

Know1 said:

---

Scud Runner said:

---

So, I was curious about the comps that she referenced during her pitch (which she had printed out) so I looked in the folder that she left with us and guess what? They weren't even in there. She left everything but the comps. I'm assuming she did this because none of them were from my neighborhood and now that I think about it, none of the streets even sounded familiar. I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but I'm confident she low balled the hell out of me for a quick/easy sale.

Red Pear, I have your info and will reach out in the morning

---

You could be correct, but you're probably giving her too much credit for recognizing a mistake. Most agents won't leave the comps. She shared the knowledge...right or wrong...if you decide to go with another agent you can use their comps.

---

I don't think she made a mistake. I believe that she was purposely being misleading with irrelevant comps and didn't want to leave evidence.

---

You may be right....that's a shame. If so, I'm glad it didn't work. Best of luck to you!

SteveBott said:

---

Someone posted Redfin uses actual sales data and Zillow doesnt. But that was a while ago so no idea what they do currently. I would still want actual sales comps in the OP position.

---

Redfin hires bottom of the barrel dumbass agents who couldn't secure a lead on their own to post sales prices from the MLS to their website. Then, like Zillow, they charge the same agent fees to send them "leads" that they would have gotten for free anyway had they been decent agents properly utilizing the MLS and Realtor.com.

And for Zillow, their genius algorithm can't differentiate between commercial land and a residential house. That's why their zestinates are so horribly awful. But yes, a bunch of idiot housewives have their app because their marketing team has convinced the world that they actually do something in real estate other than repackage info from other sources. Congrats Zillow.

Oh and I said I would want real comps. I use the residential sites for Refi's to get a 'composite' value since my clients are not all zoomed in the current values.

I average 3-5 estimates to get a starting point. TaKes five minutes.

Redfin agents are easy peasy.

mazag08 said:

---

Red Pear Luke said:

---

Definitely sounds like she was just wanting to low ball the price to get the fish sure enough to bite and help make it a quick sale. A good quick measure you can take is just looking at Zillow, it will show recently sold homes and the dates they sold. That would give you a decent idea alongside their zestimate.

If you'd like, we can run you an alternate estimate which would give you a comparison. If you're interested, send us a message!

---

Zillow is complete trash.

---

Hey, zillow isn't trash! It's worth exactly what you pay for it!

OP,

I used to be an appraiser and have about 30+ yrs overall in the business. Just recently joined my wife's booming business. Yes, like Gabe.

This is the first time I have ever noticed the Real Estate Section in Forums, so I wanted to give you my 2 cents.

Finding a successful, experienced agent is important. There are agents that earn their commissions - truly. Yes, discount companies definitely cut your expenses, and certainly, the math makes sense. Your focus should be what you net instead of solely on saving expenses. If you really understand the business - go for the discounts.

A good Realtor can help you price it right and once listed, gauge the feedback from the showings. If you price it near market value, you have a strong shot at multiple offers. It is important to have experience in your corner to guide you on which offer to go with. You shouldn't necessarily go for the most $$$. A few things to consider are what type of loan is the buyer getting? Who's the lender? - Careful, there are some stinkers out there!

Going under contract, the buyer will likely have an option period and a seller may need advice on what to repair or not. There are many ways a buyer can get out of a contract. Ask what an agent will do to keep that from happening.

Sometimes inexperienced agents on the opposite side give away too much info and an astute agent representing the seller can make their client another $5 to 15k.

To me, it is very difficult to give an owner a good market value estimate without seeing the house. We typically run the comps with a broader range of criteria, and then narrow in with closer proximity look. There are a lot of factors that might not be seen by a computer analysis, i.e., near a high line, backing to a busy street, updated kitchen, condition, etc. These will have an impact on your pricing. Sometimes an agent might be taught to NOT go beyond 6 or nine months pulling comps -- you can stray from this rule with experience if you are pricing your house. It does have a bearing when or if an appraisal is needed for your buyer. Shoot me a DM if you still need numbers -- I may not look back on here right away. Best of luck!

You need a second opinion from another Realtor

Scud Runner said:

---

I appreciate the responses. I'm going to talk to some neighbors this evening and try to get more info on realtors used because the signs don't stay up very long.

I use the Realtor App all the time to browse property but it won't let me access info in the "recently sold" menu, other than the location. Does Zillow offer that?

Also, the realtor I spoke to told me that she's not allowed anymore to broadcast "coming soon" until 24 hours before a listing goes live. Is that true?

---

NO. For 30 days she can put a sign out and have it on MLS as "coming soon" but you cannot show the property during this period. You can only show the house once it's in MLS as "active". It will not show up on Zillow or any other websites as "coming soon", as it will only be visible to other Realtors. She can also market to her office. She's not allowed to show the house until it's "active", even to her own prospects. This is for the seller's protection.