You Don't Like The Price? Neither Do I...

There are tons of blog posts about overpriced listings. The gamut of emotions runs wild. Majority believes that overpriced listings are bad in all respects.

But life has more shades than black & white.

This happened long ago. Michael, a new broker in Palm Coast, FL was struggling. He was eager to grab whatever he could, even if the chances of winning were slim to none. With time he started getting a bit more business, and was no longer living on the edge.

That's why I was surprised to learn that he was working with the investor from India, who was impossible to work with. Nobody “survived” working with him. To call him unrealistic seller would be quite an understatement.

So, I saw that Michael listed a piece of commercial land in Palm Coast for $1.3 Mil, which the guy has just bought for $325K. These were the slow times, when our 2005 and 2006 were not even the subject of dreams… The price was beyond crazy. I thought that I would feel ashamed having a listing like that.

No, I would never have a listing like that. Even if I were dying…

When I ran into Michael, I asked him why he took this listing. I knew it was bad, I just wanted to hear the remorse.

Well, he did not regret it, not a bit. On the contrary, he was very happy he had this listing. It was a prime corner in Palm Coast, and Michael was getting his fair share of phone calls. He would say something like “this particular lot is expensive, but what about other lots in the area?” And he started selling lots, and this crazy listing helped him to get on his feet.

Tell me about the overpriced listing…

P.S. Of course, I would rather get all those good calls without a crazily overpriced listing, but listings (and life) are not always sweet candies…

P.P.S. Michael died 5 years ago from cancer at the age of 40. He was the first “Russian” real estate broker in Palm Coast, and despite his sometimes terrible English, he proved that with enough determination you could do it in America. His excellent spirit beat his terrible English... He was happily contagious...

There are now a lot of “Russian” brokerages in Palm Coast. In a sense, they all owe to Michael, even those, who did not know him and those, who came after he passed away.