Just how much do you think our house is really worth?

Ask the realtor's price and opinion first, then ask yourself if he/she has the price right to sell at this time.
I used this method and found the realtor was $25,000 below the selling price which i put on the house, and could have added more.
The point is do not trust the realtor, even when they put a price on your house, they intend on reducing it later.
Put your own price on your house when you have checked the facts in your area, and stick to your price, you will win in the end.

NEVER TRUST A REALTOR. His/her primary responsibility is to secure a commission for the employer!
Here is an example on what can and will happen when the realtor is working solely for the commission. I inherited a small home and property in a well established neighbourhood and when I decided to sell, I asked a small and local realtor to appraise it. She provided me with a value of approximately $225,000 I agreed to sell the property at that value and signed an agreement for her to sell it.
This property, it turns out was undervalued. I had every Tom, Dick and Harry standing on the front yard, lining up to put in an offer. Each bid was upped by $10,000....... believe me when I say these people did not fit in with the culture of the neighbourhood. I will leave it at that. At the last moment, after all of the offers had been reviewed, a man standing at the rear of the crowd yelled to me, "I will offer you $890,000 for the property, as is, ..... are there any higher bids?" He of course, bought the property while the other yokels disappeared into the night.
That realtor had her backside tanned and kicked by me and I am doing my best to have her disciplined and her licence revoked.
Again, never believe a realtor. You may have heard the saying, "Those who know, do; those who do not know, teach; those who do not know how to teach, sell real estate"

Talk to a realtor or TV home 'consultant' and houses have never been cheaper! Anyone with a brain realizes though that when average houses exceed 3.5x the average income it is only a matter of time before big big problems arise. Don't take my word for it though just ask any American, Greek, Spaniard, Italian, Irish person etc, etc, etc...

Have emotions got in the way for me? Nope, my brain still functions.

"It never ceases to amaze me how negative some people are. One comment said basically .."Never trust a Realtor..they are out to make a fast buck for their Broker!". This commentary is directly proportional to the intelligence and education of the writer. This is total ignorance! Without us skilled, honest Realtors, just about every homeseller/buyer would be in a huge MESS! My clients LOVE what I do to help them! Overpricing a home is the number one "cancer" causing home sales to fail!. Keep it simple! What is a house actually worth? It's worth what a Buyer is willing to pay!!!! Period. Also, those dreamers who think they can sell the house "privately?". Well, why not, if you become afflicted with brain cancer, dash out to your medical supply store, buy a scalpel, and do it yourself! Sure, you save money! (Just the cost of the scalpel, but you will be quite dead!). My point? Leave the tasks to the skilled professionals in all fields! Steve.

Why should "anyone" pay more than $3,000 dollars to a realtor to sell a normal sized home ?
Waiting by a phone does not constitute much in the line of work for what realators want in the form of compensation, talk about bordering on the mafia.

Everyone has a right to their own opinion and choice. Like hiring any professional you have a right to interview them and choose the one that works for you. You have to be prepared to ask the right questions and know what answers to expect. Like all contracts make sure you read and know what you are signing.
Yes realtors are working by commissions, but you can't just group them all into one category. Just be informed and do your own research in who is going to represent you.

S.M.Cooper- I understand your frustrations when reading comments, but for you being a professional. Your language should be as such too. You representation above does not set a good example for your profession.

R.Larder- Nobody has to pay a realtor. They just choose to agree with the commission surrendered for their services. It's a negotiated process before they work for you. Just remember it's a network of professionals and resources you are paying for. As well they work almost 24hrs 7days/wk, an offer can happen at any time. They also represent more than just one client(buyer and/or seller). When I sold my house two months back, both agents were willing to drive over an hour at 9pm to where I was(as I was out of town) to get things completed. I'm sure they have family lives too.

Lol to the guy above comparing surgery to home selling. On one side you take the best and brightest, give them a 4 year undergrad, 3 year masters and then probably 4-5 years of practicum at 80 hours a week on the other pretty much anybody can take the 3 week real estate agent course and pass it. But in his mind they have similar value.....

Let me be clear. A knowledgeable real estate agent can be very useful (think 10 years in the business) but I'm sorry house selling isn't anywhere near surgery in complexity. If you can file your own tax return and incorporate your own business its pretty decent odds you will do ok at selling your house. You "might" not do as well as a realtor but you also won't have 18,000 in realtor fees (what a realtor quoted the cost of selling my house would be). In my market similar houses are flipping in 1-2 months and the fella has several listings.

The only similarity between a surgeon and a realtor is it seems they want similar pay....

"P. Sue" , what makes realtor's "professional's , ( professional- "not usually followed for gain" or "having much experience and great skill".
There is definitely something wrong with the way houses are sold for such high commissions, something workers have paid-for all their working life and then give to some realtor a fair chunk of that home and that labour .

"Realtor's", People who have NO CONSCIENCE period.

Definitely, need achange in the way homes are sold !

I have bought & sold many properties over the years. Some properties I have sold on my own and each time I have done very well. Some properties I have used the services of an agent and save for a few occations I have done very well. I have had agents attempt to play games with me , including threatening to sue me ,but each time I have given them reason to beg my foregiveness as I am easily the legal intellectual equal of any agent. I hire agents to be my servant not my lord. I hire agents because I am to busy making money at other endeavours to answer my own phone and show my own property,that doesn't mean I abdicate my own due diligence.What ever option one chooses , use intelligence not fear to choose the one that works for.

Of Course never ever trust a REALTOR. They are all for their commission. I do agree with Ray Lader, why should we pay ore that $3000.00.. Why do they need so much of commission. We work all day long and only make $100.00 a day. They sell the house within a couple of days or maybe more. They get easy pay for doing nothing. I have had terrible experience with 2 realtors. I have put my house for sale by owner now. I will not pay them a penny. They are all about themselves.

So does that mean that everyone who works for commission can't be trusted? That would also include any small business since the owner is usually one of a very few if not the only employee his/her paycheck is directly realted to how much porduct or services they can sell so they must be lying to everyone in order to try and make more money, right?

Maybe a more reasonable approach would be to assume that REALTORS, like every other profession, have their fair share of cheaters, liers, and people out to do nothing but make as much money as possible even if it means taking advantage of some. That doesn't mean that every REALTOR, salesperson, shopkeeper, mechanic, etc. is a crook. It does mean that we as consumers should be careful regardless of who we work with for whatever reason and ask lots of questions. What is the person you're hiring (whether it's a REALTOR, carpenter, mechanic, painter, etc.) going to actually do that is going to be worth the money you're going to pay them?

If whomever you're working with can present you a reasonable work plan that clearly outlines their services and you are comfortable that you are getting value for your money then make the committment, otherwise walk away ... it's that simple.

For GOD's sake Tony, don't compare a CARPENTER,MECHANIC, PAINTER to a realtor.
These Tradesmen don't have a monopoly in every city, town , village in the country like RE-MAX, Century 21, Royal LaPage, etc.
Tony have you noticed the commissions are all fixed, MLS is controlled by big Real estate, they have pictures of most houses inside and out and control this on their computers.
Tony it is definitely a MONOPOLY that needs changing.

I agree with Ray Lader. Please Tony do not compare. This is a topic of REALTOR, not any other skills. The gov't must look into this and change the way the REALTORs' grab our money. Some of them are so good until we sign the papers. Once we sign the papers they change so quick. Also if we are not smart they cheat us. I got robbed twice. I am not smart but now I am getting smarter. Now REALTORS cannot cheat me anymore.

I recently sold my house. The buyer had put in an original offer that was so low that it was insulting. His realtor tried to pressure me into taking it because it was a "CASH OFFER". WTF does that mean??????? What, as a opposed to bushels of wheat? Yah, yah, I know it means unconditional offer, but so what??? I hate when people use the term "It's a cash offer!" I still want what I ask for. In the end, the buyer settled for my price (even after the realtors kept saying, he will walk away from the deal if I don't lower my price...) Yeah right!

In today’s steaming-hot real estate market many homeowners have an inflated sense of personal wealth because of how much their house is now worth on paper. However, this number can be a red herring on your net worth statement, especially when it comes to retirement planning.