Last spring a very nice reporter with the Wall Street Journal came to our little town to write a story. Ahead of time he had asked if he could see some homes on the market. "Absolutely" was my answer. The agreed day and time arrived and I asked him what type of homes he wanted to see. "Anything that's been sitting there for a while and you don't know why it's not selling" was his answer. This took me aback, because I had just been in several situations where multiple bids were put on properties within a day or two of listing. I told him that we had a robust market and that, by all accounts, it was on the rise. I took him by homes that had been listed and went under contract very soon to show him how affordable they were and how well they were selling.
Later he met with another agent who showed him exactly what he wanted to see...in the form of 300K homes that had been on the market for quite a while. For those of you that don't know our market the average listing price is hovering at around 150K. Less than 5% of our homes on the MLS are priced at, or above, 300K. Sales at this level in the preowned category have been less than stellar considering that the buyer, if facing no time constraints, could build as inexpensively and get just slightly less home.
He did quote me as saying that "I can just about guarantee" that our market will thrive, but the main focus was on the 5% of homes that are selling slowly, not the 95% that are selling well.
Comments(3)