A case study of chasing the market down.

This Irvine home has been on the market for 858 days

Editor's note: Realtor Scott Gunther specializes in the West Irvine area. In today's guest column, he shines a light on one of the neighborhood's more unusual- and persistent- listings.

The property located at 11 Pollena in West Irvine has been listed and remained unsold for an astounding 858 days.  Beginning on August 4th, 2005, this 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2,478 sq. ft. home first entered the resale market and has since failed to change ownership.  The original asking price on this home was $957K, which has been most-recently pared to $789K. Apparently, that is not enough.

To put this in context: since that original list date, there have been 29 comparably-sized 4 bedroom homes that have moved within the same West Irvine area. Closing prices have ranged from $948K during the peak of the market, down to the most recent closing of $655K just a few days ago on April 28, 2009.

Having been inside this home, it is not in disrepair.  The flooring and wall coverings are well-done and the decor has general appeal.  It is in a nice neighborhood with desirable schools, in a good location.  Within Irvine standards, it sits on a decent-sized lot with a reasonably-sized yard. So what, exactly, has prevented this home from selling?

What would you do if you were the owner of this home? What would you do if you were the broker, representing the seller? How would you feel if you were a neighbor, seeing that same "for sale" sign up for over 2 years? What to do?

Realistic pricing - I think this may seem more obvious to most, but when you consider that even with a cursory search, there is another home currently on the market at 25 Langford available for $729K (a $60K difference in list pricing), what reasonable buyer would consider making that extra expenditure of nearly 10 percent?

Open access - The seller for this home has restricted access to the home to just one day per week, and by appointment only. There is no lock-box available for agents to bring their clients on a ready basis. While it is understandable to want to be able to run one's normal activities while going through the sales process, and also to have some sense of privacy, sellers need to know that if buyers can't get into their home at their convenience, they will often head to the other 4 or 5 comparables that can accommodate them. Further, nobody will buy a home that they can't get in to see. This limitation has a very real dollar cost.

As a buyer, how would you feel about purchasing a home that everyone on the market has avoided for nearly the past three years? As a seller, what else would you do differently?

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