Dorie: You did a service to the community by staying true to market conditions! I am on a major campaign now to make sure the word gets out---all those people who wanted to buy during the boom years are still here and waiting to step up to the plate...if we don't understand the opportunities that exist now we will miss the boat entirely and as a result we will keep this stagnant market for a very long time---great work on your part--let's go!!!

Sally and David: I have a sales manager who has kept after all of us to price properly---at first I thought "OK, but this homeowner WANTS such and such" I have learned just as everybody needs to learn: over-pricing does not work---especially now!!! Thanks for reading and commenting!

Emily: You got it! I really appreciate it when someone else can see it all so clearly--and you made an EXCELLENT point "Education and information continues to be a key in what many forgot a buyer's market actually means" !!! That says it all doesn't it???

Thank you for your valuable input and maybe you should do a post on buyer's market so we saturate the entire country with this proper pricing thing? Good stuff!

Marrianne: Thanks for stopping by and commenting; you have the right idea too about the property staging. How many times have we seen a messy house sit on the market??? Too many to mention. Next to proper pricing, staging is the key to moving a property faster!! Thanks again.

Angelica: Thanks for sharing this post with your client---get the word out! That's my goal--no one should have a problem with pricing properly if they are informed, right? We all need to make it priority #1 to anaylze the property, inform the owner and price it properly. Other wise we are not doing our job! Thank you for your comment.

RJ: There always seems to be a reason for over-pricing when it appears---to me there is no good excuse! It is damaging to the entire community! If we were in a boom right now, I may not feel this with such vehemence; but I see how it is slowing things down, when there are buyers waiting for the right pricing to happen!!! We all have a responsibility to get the word out, even the FSBOS! That would make a good post for you to write---helps to reinforce the issue too!Thanks for reading and commenting.

J. Phillip: You are so right on--"Make us an offer" is the most ludicrous statement to make on an over priced listing! Why not do that in the first place?---you wouldn't have to say that if the price is right! Thanks for your valuable input....

William: I wish I coud tell you that---it is a bit of a trap for sellers that may not have room to price the home so that they can still make a littl emoney--if they are underwater in their home, we have another issue. However, better to bite the bullet now and take a loss if you need to. Correct pricing will make a difference in timing and can prevent foreclosure too. Financial instutions are in a better position right now to help a homeowner in this kind of circumstance. Agents who are properly trained in short sales are in every market and can be very helpful in getting answers to the sellers. Just don't put off what needs to be done. It will only be a bigger trap if the property is over-priced! Thanks for reading and commenting.

Bill: I know first hand what you are saying: I have an investment that I have to sell--I priced it at a higher price in the first go-around and it sat for almost a year!  Then I got it! I rented it out and pulled it off the market during the summer last year and then put it back on the market in September '09--at a very sharp price (below market as a matter of fact)..everybody in my office told me they thought it was the best buy in the village and guess what? Another agent brought a buyer who fell in love with it and we close this month--I am very fortunate to have enough to cover all my costs--but not much more. I need to be free of the costs of owning it. What is it they say about a reformed...whatever??? That's why I am such an evangelist for proper pricing! Thanks for your input.

Robert---This is the market where over-pricing was invented! We got away with it for so long! Maybe it was because of the fact we were in a sellers market; maybe because we typically have a well-heeled buyer; makes no difference now, does it? THE GREAT EQUALIZER is what I call this recession--no one is exempt! Thanks for your comment

Mike: So glad you popped in to comment. --I am sure that it will end but when is the big question--I personally feel that if the proper pricing thing is taken on nationwide, we will see the end sooner than later...

Joshua: That is the thing here--why don't we all learn from these things and make the decision to price properly? Thanks for your valuable input.

Tim: Thanks for your support! ...and commenting

Joe: The end will come sooner if we all get on the bandwagon and inform our sellers, our fellow agents and our clients that correct pricing is key to ending this stagnant market. Over-pricing is not a fact of this industry--it is the one thing that will keep us from recovery, though. Hopefully everyone will get the message and start to price homes correctly, even if it means that they have to short sell--at least get rid of the debt.

Michelle: you are right at just walking away--let the next guy hopefully tell them the same thing; I think what happens a lot is that the seller who wants a price tht is too high will end up with the least professional agent to list the house and then watch as the house sits there and becomes really stale.

It is a  sad state of affairs, this over-pricing thing---makes our businesss more difficult. Thanks for commenting. 

Charita: Thank you so much for the compliment and you input.

Morgan: I know that in the city as well as out here in the Hamtpons, we have a "pent-up" roster of buyers. I am sure it is not so different in most RE markets throughout the country. We can all take a hint from you  comment that properely pricing a listing is the Key to getting the market on a roll again. Thanks for commenting!

Linda:The market determines the correct price---comps and recent "in-contracts" will show you what you need to know to be able to price properly. Thanks for your questions...and hope you join the group of real estate pros who want to leave a positive mark on the entire real estate market!

Laurie: Thanks for reading and commenting --this is a passion of mine now because once you see the connection to recovery, there is no greater need than to get the word out there..you can padd on the message too--it all helps! Thanks again.

Jim: you are right--the properly priced homes will sell first. Then the other ones sit and get stale and the sellers get desperate---but I am repeating myself...Thanks for commenting.

Jenna: I love your "law of unintended consequences"!!! How right you are; look at the repercussions from an over-priced listing--it is shocking when you really think it through--Thank you for commenting and for your valuable input!

Ted and Clason: Thank you both for your comments---It's good to know that you ae on the dame page!

Dave: But just think what that does to the neighborhood--and the next neighborhood---repercussions are that the whole place has a less than desirable appeal. So, this brings in the bottom feeders who  will not pay anywhere near what the houses are really worth--it's like rot: you can't just remove the rot, you must remove the whole wall to get clear of it....not a happy thought!

Merrill: The ways that I lament are just what this post is about--we are responsible people as real estate professionals, we have an obligation to try to remedy the issue of over-pricing at any time, not just now. Believe me, if we don't do it, there will be a Google or some other monstrous new company who will develop a product to put us all out of business: Google Goggles may do just that; the idea is to be able to hold your cell phone up to a property and be able to get all the pertinent information regarding the property, including comps!!! Does that not scare you into wanting to do something to protect our industry??? That's where human beings come in--we can do it with charm, not on an itty bitty cell phone screen! HA!

Andrew:...and just read the response I wrote to Merill above here^....that should scare you too--complacency is deadly---a "oh well, nothing we can do about THAT situation!" is not a good response---we MUST do something and it is within our power to remedy the problem. Perhaps the only reason you are not seeing a problem in the smaller communities is because they don't get caught up in the same kind of "BIG" ideas about the worth of the houses there...only a thought. Thanks for responding.

James: I fall into the same category--I am selling my house at a really low price just to move it so I don't have another mortage to pay (it is an investment property) Homeowners need the truth because you don't know what has precipitated the wish to sell and they won't always tell you. If you however, put the price that is real out to them it may be a relief to know that they will sell sooner rather than later. I know people who HAD to sell and because an agent came along and did not tell them the truth--the property sat for a a year! Then when i spoke to them I told them why it did not sell and the wife almost cried. The husband looked away, took a deep breath and said: "Please do not tell us anything but the real price---we won't survie another 6 months if we don't sell now." We priced it properly and they sold it within 3 months!

Yevette: You are so lucky that the inventory is low--that still means you need to be careful with pricing otherwise it will turn around and you will have too much...it can happen very quickly too. Thanks for your comment.

Sajy: You are so right! Half of the battle is won if the seller truly understands the market and the proper price of their home. Thanks for commenting.

John: that is why I am making such an issue out of this whole pricing thing---not only will inventory start to move--the whole brokerage community will improve because it is hard work to do the due diligence to get a listing at the right price. There will be less and less room for the agent who just wants to list properties...and takes them at any cost! Thanks for your input.

Kathleen: Thank goodness you can see the reality of over-pricing...thanks for commenting too.

Chuck: Thanks for your comment--keep up the good work.

Ed and Todd: thanks to you both for stopping by and readingmy post.

Karen: Than k you Karen for reading and commenting---the sooner we all realize this, the faster we can get a healthy market back in place.

Teral: Thanks for re-blogging--I hope this is helpful to all you who are working so hard to get a healthy market back!

Sonsie: Very well put. It's a lot like gamblng isn't it?  Once you win at a gaming table, it is more and more difficult to quit---once you got a (too) high price on a listing, it makes it very hard to stop doing that.....See? Thanks for you valuable input.

Kari: Very wise words for a fairly new agent! It is a bit like a dog chasing his tail---if you over-price you will never catch up! There is an unbelievable number of agents who are still chasing those over-priced listings and they are doing damage every day that they continue; it is my goal to put a stop to it but I am seeing how hard that is to do. I am still getting comments from agents who talk about how "I take listings at any price and as long as the seller says they will lower the price in 30 days or so" ....and blah, blah, blah. They are obviously not reading the post; maybe just reading the title? I don't get it. Thanks you so much fo being a part of this campaign in your own way!

Marian: Great idea---make them ask questions...I can hear it now: "what doea PIR stand for???" Do you realize that most retail outlets get it!....no one is going to over-pay for anything anymore!...especially the home they want to buy. Go into a grocery and things are 2 for $5.00.(That is a good deal here!!!) and CVS is always running specials. I am sure if I still shopped at Saks I would find very special "deals" on designer clothing too---everything is being examined with a question of value before someone buys it. It is a condition of the economy and those who don't know that are doomed---well at least the market is! Thanks for your valuable input--and good luck with your bumper sticker...I think you should do it!

Potential Buyer (#62) Thanks for stopping by and reading this post---not often do we get the public to participate in our dialogue so I am very thankful you decided to add to this very important conversation. I hope it is revealing to you and whomever else in the public eye who is reading this post, that we are a knarly bunch who have your best interests in mind. We all try very hard to meet the needs of the public but we need to understand as a brokerage community that the buyer today is more informed than ever before and because of that we need to step it up as well...otherwise, who needs us? Thanks again for your important input!

Raine: Thank you so much for your compliments....sounds like you already know how to handle the seller who needs guidance....and by your response I can tell you are on the same wave-length in terms of over-pricing..thanks for your support!

AJ and Jodee: You are so right---it is always a reflection on the whole community when an agent acts in a less than ethical manner. I hope that we can overcome those other agents; there ae still an awful lot of them left over from the "Boom" times. Thanks for your comment.

Mike: You got it! You bring up a great point about average days on the market---you know, real estate agents can take a page from the book of retail sales: aged merchandise is the bane of a good buying plan---if it's old, mark it down; otherwise you will sit there with nothing new to move the sales ahead and aged merchadise gumming up the flow of new goods. Better yet, don't ever over-price a garment because it will hang there and look dated and your open to-buy-dollars will be non-existant...same thing applies here! Thanks for offering your good sense here.

Peggy: You know what? If they hear that from all of us, there would never be an "aged" property out there and the flow of inventory can be always fesh and desirable to the buyers who want to buy. Makes sense doesn't it? Thanks for your comment.

Howard and Susan: You are right on the money! We are enablers when we fail to follow good market data and current in-contracts and still over-price a listing! We are NOT doing anyone a favor when we fall victim to the temptation to price a house too high. It is a "misguided" (as you put it so well!) attempt to appease the seller to make him/her think you are "mighty-man" or what ever you want to call it---it is still misguided!! Thanks for your valuable insight!   

Hi Jon: I know you didn't read the entire post, nor did you read the initial post that I wrote last week (that was featured too) but the reason for this one is that the responses I was getting from my first one, "What do you do when your seller wants you to over-price their home???" were blowing me away in that almost all the agents were saying they were over-pricing--"but only for a month or 2" (Sorry but my print size just leaped to this big print--I am really not yelling!) Meanwhile, the best selling time period is the first 2-3 weeks that the house comes on the market and once you miss that fresh offering, the house is like a used car coming off a lot!!! Anyway, please read the whole thing and then give me your take on it--please? Or-Please read both posts and tell me then what you think--OK Thanks Jon

Kirsten: Thanks for reading--again. I don't mean to be redundant but I keep seeing responses from agents and it appears many are still over-pricing, thinking they are doing a favor for the seller!!! So, I agree that in most cases it is a competition and the victor is the one who gives the highest price---they are the "Biggest Losers" as far as Ican tell...... Nothing worse than doing something over and over again and NOT getting the results needed! It is the worst thing anyone can do in this fragile market.....Thanks again for commenting

Esko: You are right, and then the seller is left to figure out what to do--because when an agent over-prices a listing, do you think they go back and apologize? We can only hope that the agent has the decency to re-negotiate the price, explaining that they over-priced the property in the first place. It would also be decent if the agent attempts to make the seller whole by cutting the commission (if that helps). Thanks for your input..

Dee: Wouldn't that be something if that would work??I would send that baby out so fast their heads would spin....if only it would do the job. I really think the over-pricing thing is an anomaly in this market because of the bad practices that took place during the housing boom of the early 2000's don't you? How else could a "boom" happen unless the prices were pushed to the outer limits? It happened and we have to admit it and move on--meanwhile, re-training the brokerage community as a whole to price properly! After hearing so many comments where agents STILL think it is OK to price a property thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars over what they KNOW is the right price, I think it is time to add this into the basic training of all new agents and also add it to continuing Ed classes!! What say you ? 

Gary: This formula came to me after the first post on the subject, which I wrote 10 days ago---it became clear that the jibber jabber was not going to do it---there IS a formula that works and that one needs to be brought to the forefront of everyones mind---thus this post. Thanks for your input.

Jennifer: It sounds so simple does it not? unfortunately I think we may need to re-train agents and brokers to put a stop to this irrational way of getting  listings. We actually have "trained" the sellers to expect more for their homes than the market will bear--so now we need to take on the challenge and make sure no one is using this dangerous tool to get a listing. Thanks for your comment.

Tim: Thank you for re-blogging my post--when you have time to read all the comments please do. It is very helpful to see where the other agents are coming from--very enlightening! Thank you for commenting too.

Linu: Thank you so much for reading and commenting. You are so right about New York--I thought it was particularly New York that is like that with pricing but it is all over the country--hopefully we can get the message out and it will stop....

Lexie: Thanks for commenting and for your input. I really don't do anything special in terms of pricing--I discuss the recent comps (no more than 1 month old) and in-contracts then if they agree, I have the seller sign a listing agreement and that contains the price--I don't go any further than that, no price reduction needed if it is priced right. In my experience, if they don't listen to me in my pitch regarding the price that tells me everything. I don't take it any further and I tell them why---it works because I do not want an over-priced listing no matter how good it looks and regardless of the location.

Alice: I look at this way: If you I have done my homework and really ferreted out the correct price for this house, I won't discuss price reductions..that tells me I am not at the right price if I am already thinking of a reduction; sounds rather simplistic but it seems to work. It is a problem only if I have a seller who insists on talking about over-pricing.

Once I explain to them that I won't over-price a listing and why, they go with me, they stop resisting. I tell them I won't over-price their property because when I do I completely miss the chance to sell it for them when it is a brand new listing--the best time to sell a property that is priced accurately.  I  have yet to have the seller say no to that...it makes sense to them. That bit of information AND the comps and anything else in the data of surrounding properties is all the ammunition I need....And I must admit, you have to be very convincing in selling them on the idea, but that is what this business is all about!

Joe: What a great idea--then when he/she finally get the price down to where it should have been in the  first place--you get a referral fee!...brilliant!

Rob: you are right on the mark--the ammunition should include ALL the news about the surrounding properties; right now that is the most compelling information because that is where you can show them the over-priced listings taht DID NOT sell and why. Good Job.

Chad: This comment makes me want to cry; this is what I am talking about! This is how the very idea of over-pricing is the easy way out. The average homeowner is in such need of good and right guidance---they are not stupid or greedy and in most cases they just want a fair chance to sell their home quickly and at a fair price!

What you said when you stated that you were the only agent that took the time to carefully explain the way the market works, in good times and in bad, is nothing less than perfect! We have our work cut out for us; and it is crucial that each and everyone of us do the hard work; anyone can get an over-priced listing!   Thank you for sharing, with excitement and enthusiasm, your success!

Christopher and Stephanie: Right you are! That 2-3 week time period is the "sweet" spot of selling real estate (at the right price!) Thank you for taking the time to comment.

Janet: Good luck to you in your painful market! Hopefully we will not have to face the same thing here. One of the reasons I am up on my soapbox is because of the threat that this could happen for us here as well if we don't move quickly to get the sales that are needed for a faster recovery. Thanks for sharing the news and giving us your kind words of wisdom!

David: What a great thought and suggestion for those who want to take the high road--get out of the trenches and look to the lighter side---that may work; I will give it a try! "Look! Look over here!"...and then you slip the correct price in and no one is the wiser! Meanwhile the sellers are drooling over their new house possibilities and thinking: "The prices are finally what we can afford!"

Joan: Well those agents won't last long...because if you read the comments just above yours you will see what wonderful new ideas are coming forward in this challenging market--all it takes is an agent (maybe you!) to adopt some of these tactics and before you know it, ALL agents worth their salt will be doing the same thing....over-pricing is "out" and correct-pricing is "in"! Thanks for your input

Tim: Interesting "take" on the whole affair of over-pricing. Each market has it's own idiosyncrasies; that is one of the reasons that the saying "All real estate is local" came about...I am sure that the agent who is running his/her business with the idea of not over-pricing listings has the ability to pick up on a house that has been renovated and sees that it has the advantage of a house in original condition. Not all houses are created equally---some may not be clean and shiny! That is another factor for pricing it under the renovated one...and on and on. It is not all cut-and-dried as you imply in your comments. Good luck in your area; sounds like you are starting a recovery there....please just remember the last 10 years and the "boom" in the real estate market that brought us all to the brink in 2008--let us all remember!

Karen: Your market may be similar to the one here: we have a high net worth,  New York City, second home buyers and all driven by Wall Street...so there is talk that we are out of the depths of the housing recession---I don't think so! Until we can, as professionals, say that the number of houses sold are increasing at a rate in keeping with where we were in 2007, I think we have a long way to go to get there.

Prices should not be going up yet---they should, if anything be holding at a level commensurate with the inventory--until we lower the inventory through sales, prices need to be kept at a sustainable level. It would be a very dangerous thing to think the prices should go up simply because houses are selling at a good rate. If, on the other hand your number of houses on hand is way under your rate of sale, prices will go up naturally. It is my firm belief that the whole process is a natural one--with one exception: OVER-PRICING for the sake of getting a listing!!!

Mint: I did not see your name so I will use Mint (Nice sound!) It sounds like your client needs to consider a short sale if the right price is so low, or go ahead and contribute funds--if that doesn't work than the idea of a forclosure can't be too far behind, unfortunately. If she priced it right however, she may  find that she gets multiple offers and maybe even more than her asking price--that has been known to happen. Thanks for your comment.

Kim: I know; a lot of agents are now doing that--Good luck and thans for commenting.

Daniel: You are so right--we all do want a win/win situation; hopefully the word is out now and pricing is the focus---correct pricing that is! Thanks for commenting

Alison: Good to hear the timing was right for you to read. Thanks for commenting

Jon: Feel free to read all the comments when you have time---I would not want to be responsible for domestic unrest!!! Happy moving!

Francisco: It is our responsibility as a collective brokerage community to make sure that we don't go right back into a market with artifically high prices!! That would be the end of a seemingly healthy market trying to re-establish itself---another reason we need to price houses properly! Thanks for your valuable input.

Mary ANN: Thanks for stopping in and commenting. 

Matt: Thanks for your comments Matt; if you have been keeping up with the dialogue on this post and the other post I wrote last week, you would see that the whole point is to awaken the entire country to what I view as pricing houses "just to play the numbers game, put a sign in the yard" and hope for the best---we have all had enough of that; time to do the hard work and make sure that the prices reflect true value that the buyer can SEE and BUY without feeling ripped off in the end. This is also the only way our industry will survive--it takes no genius to over-price a listing and it takes no business acumen to stand by and watch as the over-priced listings sit and become stale in the first 30 days of exposure....at exhorbitant prices!

Joe: The appraiser is very valuable right now; in fact the appraiser may hold the key to what is happening in the housing market at the moment---always has been a value to us but not as he/she is today! Thanks for your comment.

Gene: Unfortunately, this has always been the case---you pitch and do a great job--and the other guy gets the listing!!! The BIG difference right now is that if the other guy gets it at a higher price--I wish him a lot of luck getting past the appraiser at closing if he sells it at the high; and I wish him even more luck with the costs of holding onto the listing until he gets the "low-ball" offer that will surely come, eventually, maybe....Do you see where this is going? It is a dead end street in terms of running a business---the good old days in real estate are long gone! Gone with the idea that prices always go up! We are in a holding pattern in case you haven't noticed.....best to be the loser in this one because the "Bigger Loser" is the hot shot agent who has loaded himself up with over-priced inventory that doesn't move very fast, if at all! That will keep him busy with inventory that clutters up his days and keeps him off track while you are out there pursuing the REAL listings that move! Thnks for contributing

Thanks to all of you for your valuable contributions--this has been a very interesting blog post and I can see it is still tweeking the interest of alot of you---thanks to those of you who re-bloged this material as well and don't forget to check out the first post on the same subject matter: HOW ARE YOU HANDLING  SELLERS WHO WANT YOU TO OVER-PRICE THEIR HOME???

Wayne: Thanks for your support--we all need to get it when it comes to proper pricing!

Bev: Thanks for taking a stand! It is so improtant that we realize how powerful we are in the eyes of the seller---we do not have to bow down and say "whatever you say Mr. or Mrs. Seller, I will do as you say"...we are here to counsel them in the big decision to list their home!

Matt: That is why it is so important to do the research before we talk to a seller---we have to know the proper pricing or we should not be in the business---what could be more important as an agent than pricing to sell? Thanks for commenting.

Kathie:That 30 days includes the KEY selling time! Why not price it properly at the beginning and then raise the price---makes just as much sense doesn't it--only in that case you may have it sold the first go around!! Thanks for reading and commenting.