balancing real estate agents advice versus incentives

[Case]

Currently being relocated for work, house is about to go on the market.  My work pays the agent and seller's costs.

I live in a small/medium town, where the real estate market is steady but growth is small.  I have a unique architectural house, which tend to attract a lot of interest within a small group of individuals.

My agent has told me that in her 30 years of experience in the town, the first offer you receive is usually the best because the buyers are usually waiting and ready to play when the house goes on the market.  Balancing that, I'm trying to decelerate things somewhat so that we can allow multiple offers to appear and have some strength in our position (maybe even have a bidding war if lucky).

I do want to try to sell my house somewhat quickly, because of the job relocation and needing to move soon.  But, I want to give my house adequate market time.  I'm also aware of how real estate agents are incentivized to sell as quickly as possible (e.g. increases in price have small impact on the amount of money an agent makes, whereas the more houses they sell the better).

Any thoughts?

[Another Reader]

Get the best of both approaches.  Have the agent list the property on the MLS Thursday morning.  State that offers will be reviewed the following Tuesday at 6 PM.  You will be able to tell by the number of showings how many people are interested.

[boarder42]

yeah its just in the agents best interest to sell the place.  400k vs 420k gets them an extra 600 bucks they dont care about that.

[MayDay]

I do think that the longer it sits, the more likely the buyer will expect you to negotiate on price.

I'd day after two weeks on the market you aren't likely to get a bidding war or even list- people will expect you to come.off your lost price.

Otoh for truly unique housesyou might have to wait months for the right buyer.

Wesold a weird house and ended up with competing bids after 6 months on the market, after two price drops. But it was a fluke. We'd have taken any offer at that point!

[boarder42]

I do think that the longer it sits, the more likely the buyer will expect you to negotiate on price.

I'd day after two weeks on the market you aren't likely to get a bidding war or even list- people will expect you to come.off your lost price.

Otoh for truly unique housesyou might have to wait months for the right buyer.

Wesold a weird house and ended up with competing bids after 6 months on the market, after two price drops. But it was a fluke. We'd have taken any offer at that point!

while it is unlikely we did end up in a bidding war on our house - Some may find my means creepy but we had a camera in our house that was WiFi and we would go to mcdonalds parking lot for showings and use it mainly to just let us know when they were gone - but we happened to be listening to one couple who was planning to make an offer at a showing on a thursday - on friday PM we got an offer from a showing on the previous Tuesday - the low balled and wanted a response back in an hour. - knowing we could have another offer we just had our agent say we werent reachable and an hour was too short a turn around time.  We got the second offer in on the following day and put them into a bidding war and got full asking from both couples - one with a much more favorable close date for us so we didnt ahve dual mortgages. 

i guess my point here is - if its not illegal in your state to view people on security cameras on your property without their knowledge - leverage the tech we have available.  that little camera probably made us 10-15k

[I'm a red panda]

When we went to houses that had cameras, we didn't say anything at all. My husband and I wrote notes to each other and the agent.  :)
(In our state it is illegal to not disclose. So we knew who was taping us.)

[boarder42]

When we went to houses that had cameras, we didn't say anything at all. My husband and I wrote notes to each other and the agent.  :)
(In our state it is illegal to not disclose. So we knew who was taping us.)

with the rise in home automation and cheap cameras its going to be an ever growing issue to speak freely in a house you're viewing or people may request they be turned off.

[SlowMustachian]

How much was the offer vs list price? Have you been negotiating with them?  You should negotiate to try to get the best deal possible.

Even when you go into contract, you can still show the house and take back up offers if any come.