When we took our daughter trick-or-treating at our neighbors' house on Halloween, they dropped a bomb on us. They're moving! (Cue Mozart's "Requiem in D Minor") As we drowned our sorrows with the baby's stash of candy, they told us about their decision. Besides my sadness at losing them and my trepidation about who will move in next, the most powerful thing I took away from our conversation was the interesting way a local agent lost their business.

Defend Your Listing Price Recommendation

Like most homeowners, my neighbors had a very definite and, in my opinion, slightly inflated idea about the value of their home. They figured it at about $600,000. When they started thinking about selling, they chose three agents to meet with.

The first agent they spoke to was the person who had helped them buy the house (we'll call her "Agent One"). She told them that she'd list the house at $425,000. When I asked how Agent One had explained her recommendation, my neighbors responded that she hadn't offered any substantive explanation at all. Even after she learned how dramatically her recommendation differed from the number they had in mind, she didn't take the initiative to defend or justify her price.

Surprised and upset, the homeowners then spoke to two other agents (we'll call them "Agent Two" and "Agent Three"). The new agents each came in with a listing price at around $550,000.

Now, my neighbors really like their original real estate agent, Agent One. They wanted to work with her again. But they tell me that they probably won't choose her to list their home. This is pretty catastrophic for her, whether she knows it or not, because repeat and referral business is a real estate agent's bread and butter.