Realtors: Generically, How often are some realtors "protecting the market" by "not allowing" price reductions? (for sale)

[ottomobeale]

Situation.

Have a friend in another state. They own a home, nice, only 8 years old, newish, etc. No obvious large minuses on this property. Other "comps" have sold. IE there is activity.

They are in a serious money bind and need to sell.

Their realtor "wont let them" reduce the price. It has been on the market for 9 weeks now and has had ZERO showings except a single person who came to their garage sale and thus was not even technically referred by a realtor.

In my mind, if a house is not an obvious dog and it is priced somewhere near reality, is not a pile of turd; they should have at least had some showings.

I am suspecting the realtor is "protecting the local market" from declines by not allowing a price reduction to provide a lower comp for the area. I also suspect they may have been given a truncated comp listing showing only the high sales for the area.

1) Correct me if Im wrong. They can dictate the list price? The realtor is free to walk if (s)he does not like it but THEY are in charge.
2) Is there a non-realtor way to get a FULL list of EVERY home that sold in the area? Its a smallish area tho not tiny.
3) Does not the realtor ethically work for the seller over the "overall market"? and thus is acting unethically IF they are doing my suspician?

[manderly6]

The realtor can not dictate the price.

You may want to post this in the real estate forum to get responses from some actual realtors.

[Snowflake1988]

The seller dictates the price. The realtor must follow the seller's directions. They can make suggestions, but the seller has the final say.

[sholden]

Originally Posted by ottomobeale

3) Does not the realtor ethically work...

Ha ha! Realtors don't know how to spell ethically yet alone act ethically.


I kid, I kid...

[Kevin1975]

The Realtor wants to sell the house. Thats how they get paid. They should be doing whatever it takes to get it sold. I don't think any realtors are trying to protect their local market. 9 weeks with no showings usually indicates an overpriced listing. Its usually the seller who doesn't want to lower price. Maybe the Realtor strongly believes its listed correctly. Sounds like an ego thing though.

[casper324]

I'd say the industry is trying to stabilize and constant price reductions don't give buyers a warm and comfy feeling..........I've wondered why my realtor hasn't told me to drop my price which is a GREAT price, lots of showings, no offers. OTOH you didn't mention the price of the home. A friend is trying to sell her drop dead gorgeous home, also newer in a great area in the 555,000 range, not a single showing in 8 weeks on the market. There are fewer buyers out there especially in the higher price range.

[Liz555]

Hummm, that sounds really weird & I've NEVER heard of such a thing. How is allowing an over priced home linger on the market "protecting the local market"....it just adds one more house to the glut of homes sitting out there. Anyone looking at "comps" in the area will check to see how long a home has been for sale, if the price has been lowered at all since it listed & then see if the house was listed prior to the current agreement & at what price. It doesn't make any sense to take this approach to a sale nor can I see anyway how could help protect the market at all. Plus, what Realtor today could actually AFFORD to throw himself on their sword & not work to actually sell the property for the good of market unless independently wealthy.
The Realtor is "hired" by the seller. We work for YOU, so not listening to you is cause for me getting fired. Realtors know that within the 1st month (even sooner I contest) that if the seller does not have regular traffic...the home is over priced....bottom line. Being proactive in getting a price reduction is in the best interest of the seller because you hired me to SELL your home, not just list it. No one wins if it doesn't sell. 2+ years into this horrendous market, price is what gets a house sold today...houses WILL sell if priced where the buyers become interested. Clearly, these days, it's not an easy process to find out what that sweet spot is.
If this IS an ego thing for this Realtor...he/she's a bit dopey too because it doesn't reflect well on any Realtor to have a house sale linger...today, to be able to get a home under contract relatively quickly is how you build your reputation.
Tax records are public records. Anyone can research what house sold, to whom for what price.
But my suggestion-if your friend is really upset by this & there isn't a good explaination as to why they are taking this odd approach, tell them to approach the Realtors broker about dissolving the contract & help them find a new Realtor.
I'd LOVE to hear the explaination the Realtor is giving though...if you hear it...please share & good luck to your friend!!

[Huskyz]

Our experience was that our realtor regularly encouraged us to lower the listing price. We did do this over time, but probably slower than she recommended. Sometimes we felt like we were 'chasing', or even 'creating' a market, when there were few sales and much inventory.