Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland
Home Sale
We listed our home with a Realtor in 2003, she suggested $425,000 starting price,within 2 mos. she suggested lowering to $375,000. We left the ''knowledge'' to her. Sold the house 4/2004. Within 2 1/2 years (2007) our buyer sold house for $200,000 more than they paid for it.
Do we have any recourse to sue the Realtor since she priced the house & then suggested lowering the price?
The real estate market was declining in 2007, the market was HOT in 2004, we feel she did a disservice to us in the pricing of our home.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Home Sale
You have no claim against the realtor. You weren't bound by her advice, and could have sought opinions from other realtors if you wanted to. You didn't have to accept the offer that eventually led to the sale of the house. She may have done a poor marketing job, but most properties are listed in the multiple listing service, which means any realtor can sell the house. If the property was underpriced at the time you had it on the market, it should have attracted a lot of offers early on.
The fact that your buyer made a substantial profit in such a short time period may reflect the fact that the market was hot in '05 and '06, although it did start to decline sometime in '07. Perhaps the buyer upgraded the property which brought a significantly higher price on resale.