I hate this market

[TristansMommy]

Originally Posted by dman72

They want to try to grab people on the MLS who are plugging in numbers beneath what their sellers want. It's absolute nonsense and the MLS should not allow it. I've noticed it a few dozen times on the MLS.

Somebody should do us all a favor and poke one of these clowns in the eyes!!! Just kidding, mods!!

First.. any price entered in MLS needs to be approved by the owners..

What you have to understand is that hte REALTORS KNOW what the house should sell for but they have to delicately placate the homeowner whos expectations are well.. not really in line with what they should be getting...

If the homeowner is REALLY serious about selling and needs to.. the price range attracts the people/offers that the should here. The idea is that the lower end of the price range is thte jumping off point and basically don't bother putting in offers lower than that becasue they won't even counter. The expecation is that you will put an offer in at the very least at the bottom number.. then the realtor would negotiate up to a number that makes you feel like you are not overpaying and the seller feeling like they are getting a fair price.

The idea is that once the offer comes in the Realtor, whos job it is to advise the client, will advise the client that the numbers they are hearing are a) within the acceptable range they agreed to listen at and b) the offer is within the acceptable market range .. in other words.. right where the offer needs to be. Beyond the advising, if the client really has a number they want and are not budging, no matter HOW hard the realtor tries to get them to listen to their advice.. they will not take it, the house won't sell ..but atleast the Realtor did their job as best they could.

[TristansMommy]

Originally Posted by dman72

Yeah, do me a favor and poke your agent in the eyes for me. People put those increments in for a reason, and listings like yours are ignored by me because I start off not trusting the agent or the seller. That part I'm not kidding about. Anything with a range, I ignore, and I'm a qualified buyer with impeccable credit with household income of over 140K. Also, if I go to a house and they've lied about how many bedrooms they have (ie "this COULD be a 3rd bedroom..if you put up a wall!"..I walk right out.

Why ignore a range.. ?? Actually it's a tool...

ATleast you know where a starting point is on putting in an offer.. the high number is probably over where the house should sell (of course) but atleast you know you can start at the bottom number and your offer would be taken seriously with consideration.. you'll get a counter which narrows it down even more for you.

At the same time.. you also need to know what the house is worth on the market too.and youll know where you'll feel comfortable getting the house for.. and if the homeowner is realistic they will too and you'll happily find a medium.

It's also a great marketig tool because , as you know everyone lists their home ABOVE the number they expect with room for negotiations. But lets say the house will sell for $400 but they list at $440 and there is a buyer out there that is looking for a home that is at the top of their price range at $400K (not stretching.. as no one should stretch..but 400 was their cut off). If hte house is listed at 440K they won't even bother to go (assuming the house is priced within market, that is) because they really can't or wouldn't offer in the high threes for a house asking 440K and they certainly can't put in their top number of 400 and expect a negotiation..

However.. if the house is market at say $375 - $445.. then they would have the home show up in their search and they'll see that their top # is somewhere in that range and the house is now a possibility... but with that fixed price it wasn't a possibility.

See.. you only need 1 buyer.. but in order to find that 1 buyer, especially in this market , you need to capture as many as you can.. cause maybe that 1 buyer is the one that otherwise would have missed out on seeing it at the fixed asking of 445K.. and by the same token.. maybe that house is the house that fits their needs and is what they are looking for that really was in their ability to purchase, but would never have known of it if it was listed at a fixed price above their top target range.

It's very good marketing!!

[totallyfrazzled]

Originally Posted by TristansMommy

What you have to understand is that hte REALTORS KNOW what the house should sell for but they have to delicately placate the homeowner whos expectations are well.. not really in line with what they should be getting...

LOL, that's a great way of putting it! In other words, instead of the realtor banging his/her head against the wall because the seller won't accept the fact that their house is just NOT going to sell for what they insist on listing it for, they use the range pricing option in the hope that after the sellers see so many offers coming in within the lower 50% of the range, they MIGHT wake up and smell the coffee? I never thought of it from that viewpoint but it sounds like a logical alternative for the realtor in cases like that.

[TristansMommy]

Originally Posted by totallyfrazzled

LOL, that's a great way of putting it! In other words, instead of the realtor banging his/her head against the wall because the seller won't accept the fact that their house is just NOT going to sell for what they insist on listing it for, they use the range pricing option in the hope that after the sellers see so many offers coming in within the lower 50% of the range, they MIGHT wake up and smell the coffee? I never thought of it from that viewpoint but it sounds like a logical alternative for the realtor in cases like that.

EXACTLY..

In a market where homewners expectations are not in line with the market (although some buyers are also expecting too LOW on the other side), going to a range listing you actually stand a better chance of the homeowner actually listening to reason and getting the home for what you should pay for it, as opposed to ahome that's fixed, the homeowners is unrealistic and you get nowhere in the negotations and get more frustrated..

Then there are the examples of the homeowners like the one person posted about.. where they started at teh bottom, came up somewhere in the middle and the homeowner just wouldn't budge... but then that homeowner is not being realistic and is only shooting themselves in the foot...

And it may take another person coming in offering around the same for the owners to wake up!! Either that or they won't move.

[Roeoz]

Originally Posted by NYC2RDU

Perhaps the stalemate is fueled more by sellers who either bought high and can't sell short without owing money to the lender -or- sellers who maxed out their equity thinking their home values would grow forever and now face a harsher reality.

Sadly I know of several such situations in the Long Island market.

I am a realtor and it is very tough out there right now for both sides, I have a woman who is getting angry at me because her condo won't sell but what she fails to understand is her price is too high. She is a senior citizen and needs all the money she can get but in this market it will be hard to get what she wants. I have advertised everywhere and it is not selling. Keep plugging when you are looking for a home, condo, co/op or rental there is a place for everyone. It took me a long time to find my house but I love it in Oceanside and my kids received a great education.

[jmax]

Originally Posted by Transpl

I agree the lack of Sq ft info is bizarre, I have not seen this anywhere else I have lived. Who advertises a house without stating the size, just strange.

OP I admire your fortitude hanging in for 2 years. I suspect your lack of success finding a home is more related to your uncompromising standards than the market. That is a long time to not find a suitable home.

We went to an open house this weekend - I asked the RE what the square footage was of the house. She said she didn't know, but that I could bring a tape measure and figure it out for myself. I said - don't you think that is the responsibilty of the seller? She looked at me - paused and repeated that she didn't know the square footage of the house. I thougt it was odd.

[dman72]

Originally Posted by jmax

We went to an open house this weekend - I asked the RE what the square footage was of the house. She said she didn't know, but that I could bring a tape measure and figure it out for myself. I said - don't you think that is the responsibilty of the seller? She looked at me - paused and repeated that she didn't know the square footage of the house. I thougt it was odd.

It's really unbelievable. Almost every area I've looked other than LI, SF is listed.

I don't understand the unreasonable seller explanation for listing ranges. Can't you just show them what houses have sold for in the last 3 months, tell them that the market is going down and not up and they they will most likely get slightly less than comps in their area? That's what I'm expecting when I sell my place to move up. I already know I'm going to take a 10-15K loss.

[TristansMommy]

Originally Posted by dman72

It's really unbelievable. Almost every area I've looked other than LI, SF is listed.

I don't understand the unreasonable seller explanation for listing ranges. Can't you just show them what houses have sold for in the last 3 months, tell them that the market is going down and not up and they they will most likely get slightly less than comps in their area? That's what I'm expecting when I sell my place to move up. I already know I'm going to take a 10-15K loss.

LOL .. we wish that sellers could all be like you.. but lets face it.. people tend to be unrealistic and even MORE SO with their homes..

I mean some people really think there house is worht more becaues they have a garbage can that slides out from the cabinet. WE call those the "extra special nails" clients..

It's just basically that sellers are not catching up to reality and realizing that they missed the boat on selling at the top..

Price sells.. I've had 4 showings a day on sat/sun every weekend since the price was right and I now have 3 offers! this in a market where there is an inventory of 200 in my town alone! Why? Because the price is right!