Veteran real estate broker Keith Robert Gordon of Altru Realty Florida talks about how he creates a bidding war in any real estate market.
The reason every homeowner should learn about how to create a bidding war is because bidding wars get a homeowner about 5% more money than what most agents get sellers. The premise behind bidding wars is most of the home listings in Florida are priced 8-12% over value.
Conversely, if the agent or homeowner were to list the home closer to where buyers would ultimately purchase the home, this dynamic would create a bidding war.
So why don’t more agents do this? The simple and honest answer to that question is simple. If the listing agent were to suggest to a seller to list their Tampa, Florida home $150,000 lower that agent would lose the listing to another agent that said they could get the seller more. Of course, as we all know, most agents use extra puffery when speaking to sellers about what price to list and where value maybe.
The other point - maybe ever more poignant - is agents think they know too much about value. This business of selling homes is so exaggerated that no one expects truthfulness.
Ultimately, this overly aggressive list price full of hopeful exuberance about value leaves the seller with no offers and few showings.
My approach is the opposite. I shock the market [buyers] into making offers because they fear if they don’t someone else will. What I do takes 1/3 the time to go under contract and gets anywhere from 5%-8% more on the sale.
What I do is to imagine there are 5 buyers right now just waiting to make an offer on that beautiful St. Petersburg, Florida 5-bedroom waterfront home. To get these 5 buyers interested enough to make you an offer is simple. Remove the wiggle room, trust these buyers want the home and decide to start packing!
First and foremost: Do you have a plan about where you are moving? Second, is there an exact amount that you are comfortable with if you got that number? And third, do you believe in miracles? Well, I am very serious about the first two questions and the third of course I am being a bit silly. But bidding wars can produce a miracle-like sale when things line up right!
The idea behind selling any home in Florida starts with exploring what your value is. A CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) or a professional appraisal or an agent’s opinion of value is not the same as real buyers making offers on “As-Is” contracts.
Value or seeking full value is how I came up with my bidding war methodology. I never presume I know value for any home in Florida. Matter of fact, I presume I know no more than the average buyer about valuations. Why is that? It is so because Realtors aren’t the source of value. Realtors often think they know everything including what a home is worth. I find that dangerous for a seller that wants a full-full sale.
My rational is simple. Say the home is listed at $700,000 and an offer was made on day two of the listing at $650,000. All excited the agent and the seller counter at $690,000. In a matter of hours, a deal is reached at $675,000 – a classic meet-in-the-middle. This does not prove the value of the home. It may have in the minds of the agent and the seller but not for me.