Listing a home in this market takes a lot of research to determine the best listing price at which it can not only attract offers but also appraise at the purchase offer amount.

I just had a listing expire after 6 months on the market. The sellers asked that the listing price be higher than my recommendation. I informed them of the dangers of doing this, especially in a declining market. They said they were not worried about it until after the first of the year. Well, the new year rolled around and after much discussion I was able to receive a price reduction. Not enough of a price reduction to make much difference. The listing price was still about $50 thousand dollars more than the market indicated.

During the listing period we received two fair market priced offers, both countered by the sellers with a price that could not be justifed. As you might expect, both buyers walked. The second offer was 80% down, a quick close, and right on the money according to the comparibles. Even had an appraiser take a look at my evaluation and they came up with the same numbers.

The sellers were sent market updates and viewing activity reports weekly, indicating the home was getting good exposure.

One of the sellers felt they knew better how to market a home and insisted it be held open every Sunday. Even felt they knew better than I where to place the open house signs.

When it came time to expire or relist I told the sellers that without adjusting the price to what the market is saying their home is worth there was no reason to expect different results. The two offers were only $5,000 apart in price, with the first offer being more and the second less as the market had dropped a little more by this time. The appraiser and I both felt the home was in the range of $650,000 to $675,000, depending on upgrades. This home fell into the lower of the range as the kitchen and bathrooms had not been updated. The offers were $655,000 and $650,000.

After informing the seller that I would expect an adjustment in price, and that holding it open every Sunday was a bad idea, they decided not to re-list with me. I do not want to take listings that won't sell because the sellers can't or won't listen to what their agent and the market is telling them.

As I look back on this listing experience I keep trying to see if there was something I had done wrong. Even though I did everything right it doesn't matter when the sellers refuse to see the logic. So the lesson here I guess is this; Don't take a listing if the sellers are not willing to listen to you or what the market is saying. Of course you don't always know this in the beginning but I'm sure there are a few additional questions I'll be adding to my listing presentation interview.