$20,000 Lesson Part 2 in New Beginnings

I spoke with my sister who’s a realtor, she said there were some circumstances about what happened that seemed kind of odd. I’m going to write down everythings, so I don’t forget.

About mid June, I spoke with my realtor about putting my condo on the market. When we spoke, she brought some sort of list (it might have been a market analysis-I don’t know) that showed perhaps two or three condos in the same general area and what they sold for. The sales took place within the previous 12 months, of that I’m certain, and they were sold in the amounts between the mid $70s to low $80s. She asked me how much I wanted out of my current place. I presumed her list to be indicative of current market conditions, so I told her $75k. She suggested I sale for approximately $81k to cover commissions and negotiations, but when I filled out the paperwork specifying my list price, I wrote $82k.

My condo’s listing went online on Thursday, July 16th. My realtor told me that when her manager saw my listing, he said it would be sold within a day, but she “cautioned” me that he was very optimistic, while she was more realistic. Before the day was over, my realtor notified me she had scheduled four showings of my property the very next day, Friday, July 17th. I believe the showings were at 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 6:30 pm, and 7:30 pm. By mid-afternoon of Friday, my realtor notified me that the final person on the schedule made a cash offer on my property of $82,200, with the condition that if I didn’t accept it by 9:00pm that night, he would withdraw his offer. My realtor recommended that I accept the offer because it was in cash, so I did.

Last week, an associate of mind looked at my condo’s listing out of curiousity, and he noticed that it was priced much lower than almost all the other listings. I repeated his search on www.realtor.com, looking for all condo’s in Alpharetta from $0to $130,000. I found that only one other condo was listed at that price point, and it’s a smaller unit by approximately 400 square feet. Of all the other listings, the lowest priced unit is $95,000. In that search, I noticed that three other condos were under contract. A 760 square foot unit at Pembroke Circle was priced at $102k. Another 940 square foot unit at Pembroke Circle was priced at $130k. Another unit at Homestead Trail, which is the same size as my unit (1,250 square feet), was listed at $110k. I realize the following measure is very subjective, but my unit is much more aesthetically pleasing than the others, and it’s very well maintained. My buyer only requested three minor repairs:

1. Fix a sink that wasn’t draining very quickly
2. Pressure wash the deck
3. Reattach ceiling panels that had come off on the outside walkway (a responsibility of the HOA)

Consequently, I think my unit should have been priced at least as high as many of those other units. My sister thinks that my realtor might have had a conflict of interest, like she intentionally priced my unit lower than the others to give a deal to a friend. Maybe she just didn’t do the research she should have. My brother has a friend who teaches real estate law at a rather prestigious university, so he’s going to send all the facts I wrote down here, and let me know what he thinks. I can’t back out of the sale now. If I did, I would be liable for covering my buyer’s alternative living accommodations until he found another place. If I have a legitimate case, I may have to file a greivance with my state’s board of realtors. That’s everything that’s occurred to date. Being taken advantage of is painful, but it’s nice to know that I may have some recourse.