Don't be surprised if property sells for more today than a year ago

List price: Too low? Too high?

It was a buyer's market in 2011. And yes, back then, buyers had more opportunities to negotiate lower offers, credits, and/or repairs.

But starting in 2012.....prices started improving. Buyers started getting off the fence.

And now, in 2013....it's turned into a full-fledged seller's market. Even if our CMA shows recommends a certain list price, the final value is whatever the buyer is willing to pay.

Out of area agent

A realtor from out of the area has a listing at Alameda's The Willows condominium complex where I sold a property about a year ago. He wanted to know more about the complex and whether it's FHA approved or not. 

First of all, shouldn't he already know the answer to that question? He could just as easily log on to to at the HUD site for the list at https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm to find out, or even ask a lender to check it out for himself

But what surprised me is his comment that I sold my listing early 2012 as "too low".

• He must not have noticed that my listing sold for cash, and for over list price.
• A simple review of listings sold in the last year of sales in that complex would have shown that
• two other properties that sold after mine sold at even lower prices.
  
• And prior to when my listing sold, the other listings sold for significantly less than mine
• I told him that at the time of my listing, I was uncertain if we could even get the price we want considering that my listing didn't have the upgrades that the others did
• If this agent tracks market activity, he should have known that in our area, certain properties have shown quite an appreciation in the year.

Times have changed...and it has turned into a sellers market resulting in multiple offers. This is now the norm, whereas it wasn't that prevalent at the time my listing sold.

Finally --- he's asking me questions. In a way, I'm doing him a favor by providing information about a complex he knows so little about. Does he realize how insulting he comes across?

He sold his own listing for less than list price in 2011

Then I remembered.....

He had a listing at The Essex in Oakland. I represented the buyer who paid less than his list price.

But the times were different then. In 2011 it was a buyer's market. His listing was listed in September for a much higher price.

He reduced the price a month later. But it didn't sell until another month had passed. And I submitted the only, and lower offer that was accepted.