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for full disclosure, I should state that i am a buyer and not a seller and i asked the question as someone that has been looking at listings pretty regularly. someone mentioned to me that they read that homes are selling for only 80% of listing price which seemed a) rather high and b) a pretty large generalization of the entire market.
I can't speak specifically for your market area as I am not in that market area myself...but what you have to ask the Realtor you are working with (if you are working with one) for the sold comparables of "like and kind" homes for the last 6 months to get a good idea as to what they are really selling for.
List price doesn't even matter because if the house won't appraise, the sale won't go through. A good agent should be able to give you what the local "listing discount" is in any given specific town - but it's a generalization.
My business is comprised of about 50% standard real estate and 50% REO listings. My REO listings tend to sell at 102% of list price because I get the bank to price them so perfectly that we generally have 5-6 offers within 2 weeks. Whereas my regular listings it's all over the board because sellers generally tend to price their homes leaving wiggle room in there which leads to less activity, less offers, and a larger listing discount.
my house is listed and I know I am priced high, but I can carry the house so I don't need to sell it fast. It would cost me about 18k a year to carry the house, if I knocked 100k off the price, I still wouldn't have any more lookers and for 100k I can carry the house for 5 years of more. I really have no incentive to lower the price
This is what leads to "Well, if apvbguy can get that...I have updated X,Y, and Z and he hasn't so I should be able to get atleast 15K more than that" and then another neighbor says the same thing and lists for 10K more than the last guy and you now have an area where nothing sells.
I watched a town in Orange County NY sell only 2 houses in 1.5 years because of sellers doing just this.
Do your Realtor and neighbors a favor....take your home off the market until the prices rebound and your home is really worth what you're asking.
This is what leads to "Well, if apvbguy can get that...I have updated X,Y, and Z and he hasn't so I should be able to get atleast 15K more than that" and then another neighbor says the same thing and lists for 10K more than the last guy and you now have an area where nothing sells.
I watched a town in Orange County NY sell only 2 houses in 1.5 years because of sellers doing just this.
Do your Realtor and neighbors a favor....take your home off the market until the prices rebound and your home is really worth what you're asking.
~J
Excellent post and right on the money concerning the problem with asking prices right now. Reps to you.
LOL - I know it's real easy for me to say, as I sit here in a house I purchased before the boom and have no intention of selling. But if a seller is purchasing another property, they need to remember any money they theoretically "lost" most likely will be "made up" on their purchase. That should soften the sting a little.
My old house is on the market now - over twice what we paid 10 yrs ago (no major improvements), and $70K more than they paid in 04/05(?). They've dropped $30K (so it originally was listed $100K more than they paid, which is a VERY LARGE percentage). I don't get. It's just.sitting.there for about 5 mos now. Honest to God, if they dropped the price $60K, it'd probably sell tomorrow.
One last thought - it also seems to be that people "testing the waters" with pricing way out of whack are really doing a disservice to their agent. It's wasting their time and money - I guess the agent can say "no" though, is that common?
I agree with everything you stated.
As for your question, yes an agent can say no for any reason. With the example you gave of a customer just using an agent with no intention of selling and just testing the waters, I would say no to the customer and have in the past. It is just not worth my time. I work for Re/Max and pay for things out of my pocket for advertising, listings fees, virtual tour fees, flyers, etc. and by the time I am done in week one I am out several hundred dollars. No need for me to waste at least $1,000 (after all expenses) on marketing for them to just see what their home is worth.
you guys are real adept at planning my finances!
you all completely missed my point, which was that even if I lowered the price 100k it would not generate any more traffic, so there is no point to lowering it.
until buyers start to appear the price stays where it is.
As to creating too much inventory, is that my fault? I don't think so, and I really don't care.
All of you "experts" have forgotten the one basic rule of real estate, and that is that all markets are local and my property is a one of, my home is not one of those cookie cutter tract homes, it is a unique property in a unique place and when the person comes along who appreciates the beauty and unique aspects and is willing to pay the price, the home will sell.
Unfortunately for me, my target buyer is a small niche of high income people, generally wall st types and they are getting hammered by the turmoil in that business.
at some point things out there will change and until they do I guess I'll have summer house at the shore.
Unfortunately for me, my target buyer is a small niche of high income people, generally wall st types and they are getting hammered by the turmoil in that business.
at some point things out there will change and until they do I guess I'll have summer house at the shore.
How unfortunate it is for you. Poor apvbguy. With all your supposed wealth you sure sound like a miserable person.
Most homes in this area are selling for 93-97% of asking price, but again homes that are priced at market are selling for almost full price and getting multiple offers...go figure, you cant believe all the market hype. People still move and buy homes in this market, and know what the values are.
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