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For the second time in two days I received an instant update email from Zillow on my saved search. Listing price has dropped $100.
Seems obvious to me that it's a ploy to get exposure, but I personally find it an annoyance and wonder if others feel the same. Obviously a $100 price decrease on a $200,000 house isn't going to sway me toward that house.
I love getting Zillow updates on houses in the markets in which I'm buying and selling, but these $100 reduction emails feel more like spam.
Each time there is some type of change, the listing 'pops back to the top' and gets new exposure. I've watched Realtors and Sellers use this ploy to create the impression that there has been a 'big change' in the listing, ... without really costing anyone, anything.
Did the "Alert" actually say, "This price has only been reduced by a measly $100" (of course not) ... OR did it instead come under a large "PRICE REDUCED" banner? -- Only someone who is tracking particular homes will know that it's only a $100 ploy.
Each time there is some type of change, the listing 'pops back to the top' and gets new exposure. I've watched Realtors and Sellers use this ploy to create the impression that there has been a 'big change' in the listing, ... without really costing anyone, anything.
Did the "Alert" actually say, "This price has only been reduced by a measly $100" (of course not) ... OR did it instead come under a large "PRICE REDUCED" banner? -- Only someone who is tracking particular homes will know that it's only a $100 ploy.
The subject line in the email says "Price Cut: 1234 Main St.," but when you open up the email it clearly states at the top "The price of this home has been reduced by $100."
If you search for the house on Zillow, it says near the top: "Price Cut (Apr 23): -$100"
I'm guessing that a lot of home buyers and sellers like me have saved searches on Zillow and get email updates when there's a new listing or a price reduction in a house that fits my parameters. It's just annoying to get one that's not truly a reduction but instead only a ploy to increase exposure.
And when I do a new search using those same parameters, the $100 less house is the 10th listing, so it didn't move it to the top.
Probably just a marketing strategy by the listing agent to generate interest in the home. I agree that a $100 reduction is a strange amount, but whatever may work for them.
When I was watching one house I would get a notification that it dropped $1000, then a day later a price increase notification of... exactly $1000. They obviously did not want to drop the price, just to get attention. They seemed to do this every month.
There's actually automated programs out there that will change the price for an agent, automatically dropping the price by "X" amount every "X" days. We don't use them, but we know agents who have tried it. Seems like it would be easier just to price it right the first time and avoid all this gimicky nonsense . . .
When I was watching one house I would get a notification that it dropped $1000, then a day later a price increase notification of... exactly $1000. They obviously did not want to drop the price, just to get attention. They seemed to do this every month.
If theyre doing this monthly then it would seem that they have a high DOM. Any realtor/buyer would see that high DOM and know that the asking price is too high for the market and the sellers are completely out of touch. I saw this a lot when I was house hunting. On most sites you can see the listing history and if this marketing strategy bothers you then you can avoid these games outright.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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This allows them to add a sign outside the home that says "New Price" or "Price Reduced" which always attracts new interest. Of course those that have seen the original price may be put off when they see that the reduction was so small.
My experience with sellers that do small price reductions are that they are often inflexible and unrealistic with their expectations. When I see a $100 reduction I think, "Joker".
If theyre doing this monthly then it would seem that they have a high DOM. Any realtor/buyer would see that high DOM and know that the asking price is too high for the market and the sellers are completely out of touch. I saw this a lot when I was house hunting. On most sites you can see the listing history and if this marketing strategy bothers you then you can avoid these games outright.
It's usually not monthly. It's usually every day, or every two or three days.
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