Everyone is an armchair quarterback. With the recent advent of the Super Bowl, it has come to my attention that we are all much better football players from our couches and chairs than the professional players are on the field. At the risk of sounding somewhat blasphemous, I can’t say that I am one of these since I really have little interest in the sport. However, it is fun to watch the range of emotions and heart rate changes that those who are fans tend to experience throughout and game. There is no lack of advice and expletive hurling to coaches, players and refs throughout the game. It is mind boggling, in fact, that there isn’t just a call-in phone line for the at-home professionals (the ones who don’t participate in the sport but know more about it than those who do) to share their nuggets of wisdom and advice with the pros on the field.

There is a similar role that can be played in the field of real estate as well. In fact, I hear about it almost daily. I am offered free and unsolicited advice from a variety of people who have yet to ever earn a living as a Realtor. Although they may have purchased a home before, or perhaps even a few homes over the course of their lifetime, they have never participated in the process as the professional. It is the same as having played a game of flag football during gym class in seventh grade. As a side note, I just experienced a bout of PTSD even mentioning seventh grade gym class, as I was always the last one picked on every team. Apparently, no one wants the scrawny girl the size of a fourth grader on their team. Either way, you get the idea.

Armchair Realtors make it very challenging for the professionals to do a job well. It is tough to concentrate on the job at hand when there is so much background noise from the peanut gallery … even if it is well intended. In fact, I recently listed a home for a client in a desirable community. I priced the home exactly where it needed to be in order to get the most money for my client as well as having a good chance of appraising for the list price. I had spent the time carefully and deliberately pulling the comparisons that I felt an appraiser would also use in order to arrive at that price. We received two offers within the first two days.

When I met with my client to go over the offers, she mentioned that her neighbor had told her that the home must be underpriced since it had sold so quickly. As Realtors, however, we know that a home that is priced correctly, as specific in nature as this home, in a desirable neighborhood and in a market where there is low inventory, should attract a buyer immediately in today’s market. Perhaps not yesterday’s market (15 years ago), nor tomorrow’s market, but today’s. A home such as this, that sits on the market for a long time due to overpricing, tends to sell for less since there must be “something wrong with it” or it would have sold quickly. See where I am going with this?

Another common misnomer is the old, “My cousin has a friend who has a brother in real estate, and he can sell your home for a lot more money.” Interesting. Unless there is an outlined plan that includes something that doesn’t exist yet, I would love to see that. As long as the home has been marketed correctly, has great pictures, has been priced appropriately (supported by past sale comparisons), is clean and is not super odd in one way or another (which would warrant a different pricing strategy anyway), then the home will sell when the right buyer comes along. Otherwise, a different name on a sign isn’t going to do the trick.

I also have been given helpful advice that if I advertise in the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times that that will attract a clientele with more disposable income than the average Utahn. Apparently, this is true for Californians and their print publications as well. After all, aren’t they all just waiting by their newspapers itching for an advertisement of an average-size home in Utah where they can spend their real estate fortune that is burning a giant hole in their proverbial pockets? Yes, I didn’t think so either. Besides, it only costs about $150,000 for a quarter-page ad in the Times.

As professional and experienced Realtors, we too want to win the game. We have the training, the experience, the right team players and coaches. Trust us that we can get the job done. I do, however, think the 49ers could have won it — if they had just listened to me.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com.

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