It isn’t Logical But It’s Your Home & You Can list with a flat fee broker and ask more in a falling market than you paid for it just a year of two ago. What brings this to mind is a new listing that appeared this week.
A homeowner who purchased just two years ago is listed with a flat fee broker and the showing instructions say “contact owner directly.” The asking price is more than they paid for the home and neither pictures nor remarks indicate any apparent updating. I've seen this before and, usually, the asking price is the sum of their original purchase price and the Buyer’s agent commission offered in the listing. It’s obvious their goal is to get out even!
How do I know exactly what they paid for it? Well, the information is always in the “property history” attached to the current listing. Today, the first thing I do when the “dollars per sq ft” is significantly higher than the current real estate market is to look at the property history.
I wonder if the homeowner understands this history information is part of their current listing. Do they know our local market has been falling since January 2008? I imagine so and expect they gained that information interviewing agents who brought them news contrary to their objectives.
I also wonder if they called the Buyer’s agent who sold them the home or the Listing agent marketing the home when they bought. Sometimes, they are one and the same. I wonder what circumstances lead them to attempt sale after such a short time. Do they dislike the home, the area or are there other things that changed in their lives to encourage sale.
It’s possible I’ll know because I’ll do further research if a buyer I’m working with develops an interest in the home. Otherwise, I’ll likely just keep clicking past it, as will most agents, until the listing expires or the price is reduced.
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