A while back, I posted a video about using a Buyers Agent when you are house hunting. I did that because I had had a conversation with someone who had called about one of my listings, wanting to make an appointment to see it. It was clear that he was trying to juggle the appointment in order to fit it in between two other houses he was seeing here in town with two other listing agents.
During this call my goal was to sell my listing as my loyalty is aligned with my seller client. Keep in mind though, that in NJ, when a prospect calls a sellers’ agent the agent immediately becomes a disclosed dual agent – and must keep a neutral position. This isn’t a bad thing – but it’s worth mentioning. That is not what today’s post is about.
About a week later the same person called again. He is still interested inthe property, but he feels it’s overpriced. He found a property on Zillow that supports the fact that the house in question is priced too high. This is what today’s post is about.
On paper, these two homes seem very similar:
But look at what makes them different! There are many things that detract from or add to value. In this instance, the difference between the two properties was SO clear to me, that I needed to take a step back and think carefully how I explained that to the buyer. Because I didn’t want him to think I was just trying to sell my listing.
In Basking Ridge, you can use tax assessment as way to see if a set of homes are valued in the same way. The tax department strives to assess at market value. When two homes have dramatically different tax assessments it indicates that there is a big difference in the location or the condition, or both.
Highway noise. High tension wires. Condition. Train tracks. Odors. Unusable property… these are all things that you cannot appreciate if you haven’t walked through the house or drove by the the property.
Are you looking to buy a house? Don’t have a buyers agent yet? Call us at 908-432-0318 and ask for a buyers agent consultation!
https://www.basking-ridge-real-estate.com/homes-for-sale-search/
