The topic of relisting a home surfaced last night on ABC's Nightline, of all places. The agent in the story, as part of his normal listing process, said he cancels and relists his listings when they reach 70 days.
Of course, when a buyer zeroes in on a particular house, a good buyer's agent researches as much as possible about the home, including how long the home has REALLY been on the market. It's just part of due diligence.
When my buyers get serious about a property, I research and report to my buyer:
- When was the home first listed? (sometimes it has been on and off the market for longer than a year)
- What was the starting price?
- How often are they just relisting, with or without a price change?
Why is this important? Because the history tells me lots of things:
- The longer the home has been for sale, the more motivated the seller may become
- Was the seller ever realistic about the sales price, or was it consistently priced well over market value? (speaks to their flexibility, or lack thereof)
- Have previous offers fallen through, and why?( are there issues with the house itself, or were there simply buyer financing problems)
I personally dislike the whole practice of relisting without a valid reason (such as a seller who wants to take a break for a while and wait for better market conditions). I think it purposely misleads buyers.
My buyers can search for Minneapolis/St. Paul homes at www.BarbaraCharlton.com which gives them all the public info about the home, but they also know that I am here to uncover the rest of the story for them.
Just one more reason to find a good buyer's agent who isn't afraid to roll up their sleeves and do some digging.
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