I was looking at the Daily MLS Hotsheet today and noticing how many new homes builders, and even resale agents that think they are creative are playing pricing games.  The homes I saw were in Atlanta homes subdivisions I am well acquainted with, and the inventory has been sitting on the market for some time.  Last year they did the same thing making it look like the homes were greatly reduced for one weekend only, I guess it backfired, and some are on the market again.  This time they bumped the price up through the stratosphere, and reduced it by 100K.  I supposed this was to make the person buying think they were stealing a home.

I personally went in last year to look at an Atlanta home for myself to see if it was really a great buy...it wasn't!  I quickly drove out of the subdivision unimpressed by the supposed sales, and very disappointed in what I saw upgrade wise and in the lack of quality in finished work.  The difference was the homes were substantially cheaper last year.  Many of hte homes are still sitting in inventory, and the homes in spite of the much lower asking price last year (that did not sell) and now they are trying to make it appear that they have dropped the price of a home 100K from $699 to $599K???  In my own opinion, they are not worth 499K!  Sometimes I have to just sit back and wonder who will eventually buy the home? Will they blow their brains out when they talk to the neighbors after moving in?  What will their buyers agent advise them to do?  How will the property appraise?  Most importantly, how will they ever resell the home when the real value is not there?  It is really too cruel to laugh.   The sad thing is that some folks will rush in and all they have to see is the sign "reduced!"  Too bad it is referring to their IQ!  What is needed in this market is experience to guide your purchase decisions.  A CMA, an archive search, expired and withdrawns, and listing's history  are easy solutions for a smart purchase.

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