Jim Wolcutt discussed the nefarious practice of brokers cancelling listings and relisting them at the same price the same day to create more attractive market times. That practice is forbidden with the San Diego MLS, but I am beginning to wonder if there might be a way to put this crime to good use….
What if listings were allowed to be cancelled and relisted if the asking price were reduced by a substantial and minimum pre-set percentage. For example, let’s say a listing had been on the market a minimun of 21 days and the seller decides to become very aggressive and reduces the price by a minimum of 5 percent or more. How can this seller be “rewarded?”
In this case, we may have changed the entire marketability and nature of the listing—and perhaps it deserves the attention of a new listing. Properties that have been substantially reduced deserve more market attention that those that are overpriced and languish unchanged. I believe proactive sellers and agents deserve the additional market attention.
The listing history would remain unchanged, but now we would be able to show our buyers when and by how much the listing was reduced. With our San Diego MLS, the reduction history is lost and I feel this is important information for buyers and for sellers when determining pricing and offer strategy.
It would also be a good additional tool for the seller’s agent to use when trying to push for a price reduction. I know our sellers anguish over market time and wish there were some way to re-present themselves to the MLS when they have aggressively reduced their pricing in response to market conditions.
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