I have always recommended to my prospective sellers that they interview multiple agents when determining who is best suited to represent them with the sale of their home. One of the reasons for this is to get some collective concept of what the proper value of the home is in the current real estate market. In this week’s OpenHouseNYC segment, New York Magazine’s popular Triple Assessment feature leaps from the page to the TV screen to further support my reasoning:
In our partner segment with New York Magazine, Open House NYC host, George Oliphant meets Jhoanna Robledo, editor of NY Mag’s Real Estate Section for a video version of their popular feature, Triple Assessment.
Triple Assessment is an appraisal from three brokers on the proper price of an apartment about to hit the market. Going by 3 factors of reading the market, valuing the property and what prospective buyers might tell them, New York Magazine asks three real estate brokers to name a price for a new listing. In this special video edition, Jhoanna invites her coterie of brokers to 55 White Street to appraise a Tribeca studio apartment.
The apartment has very high ceilings and great natural light, but it is only 600 square feet, so how will that impact the broker’s price estimates?
Click the video to see how brokers price the apartment and then find out how close they got to the actual listing price.
Three experienced agents with solid reputations for success in the industry come up with a range from $715,000 to $825,000. So what is a seller to do? This seller selected an agent to market the property in early July at $815,000. It was reduced to $785,000 in mid August and is still available per the agent’s website.
My advice to all sellers: If you are going to take the time to interview multiple agents to market your property, also take the time to request and review the exact data that was compiled to come to the suggested asking price. I am a big believer in selecting comparables that actually have an accepted offer, signed contract, or have been recently sold and closed. Properties that are currently active on the market should be considered only as a gauge of inventory. As is obvious from this Triple Assessment, asking prices can be all over the map are are NOT an indicator of the value of your home.
