Just recently, a builder sold their model home in Lakes of La Cima and the agent's office failed to put the "Z" on this Z-sale. What is a Z-sale? For those who may not be familiar, it is the ability to put an undisclosed sale price into the MLS. The listing price and the sale price show up as the same number in the system. This does not mean this was a full-list price sale. This means the builder or seller does not want the public to know what they sold the house for.
In the case of the builder's model home in Lakes of La Cima, I spoke with the builder one day when he was visiting the model. He advised me that he was willing to sell this home $45k below the list price. For agents who are not familiar with new home sales or might not be local to the area, they would not have any idea that the comps in the neighborhood will be inflated a bit by the Z-sale of that builder model. This can be disheartening to sellers in the neighborhood who are expecting similar results to what they think the builder received for their spec or model. They wonder why they don't get lots of showing traffic and they wonder why they don't get offers. The agents in the area know that home is inflated, and may or may not show the home because the pricing structure of the listing is out of whack.
Z-sales are very common in the North Dallas suburbs, where we have lots of new construction going on. When the market tightened last year, Z-sales became even more common. The builders have to work very hard to attract buyers to their finished inventory. The builder's pockets can be much deeper than a normal sellers, when they need to make a sale because they have significant quantities of finished homes on the ground.
Some resale owners in luxury price points have also asked to use the Z-sale option in the MLS. They may have friends in the neighborhood that they don't want to know the full details of their home sale. That ability to defy disclosure in the MLS keeps their sale price confidential if an agent runs sale comps for someone else in the neighborhood.
How do you adjust the comps in a neighborhood to reflect more realistic sales when there are a high number of Z-sales? It comes down to how well the agent knows their market. But, a good guestimate to reduce that Z-sale price by is 7-10%. That should give a more realistic outlook for the new listings in the neighborhood, and keep those new listings in line with the disclosed sales figures.
How many showings should a new listing be getting in these times to give the owner comfort that they have real demand for their home? Each home is accepted by the buyer market differently, but a good rule of thumb in the DFW area is that if you aren't getting at least three showings per week, you don't have solid demand for the home right now. If you go week after week with the right level of showings, around 3-5, and get no offers in 30-45 days, then it's time to look at your entire marketing strategy and re-evaluate each component. Price is only one factor. Take off any rose colored glasses about the house and review it for price, marketing exposure, location, condition, age, interior amenities, exterior amenities, neighborhood amenities and HOA dues, and curb appeal. Go online and review the homes immediately surrounding your home on websites like trulia.com, realtor.com, homes.com, zillow.com, point2homes.com, and others. Does the entire story make sense and does your home stand out in the crowd? If not, adjust what is out of line and give it 7-21 days to see how the market reacts. Don't expect the market to react instantly in Dallas/Fort Worth. Many of our buyers are coming from other states, and you need to account for travel time to arrive and be ready to tour homes.
Have a blessed day!
Ronda
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