Just changing agents won't cause you to sell an overpriced listing

Mike.  I don't.  But needed your post as a reminder because I have one possibly coming up in a couple days and I think your post is going to make me turn it down!

Love it!  The home babysitting business!  How true and sad is that?  And you are right, until all agents are honest with their sellers and refuse to take on these overpriced listings, the market will continue to slowly recover at a snail's pace.  Five years ago prices are gone, we have to accept it and force our sellers to accept it.  If they want to sell, they need to price to sell for today.  Great post.  Thank you for sharing.

A year . . . heck that's nothing.  I just write a post about a home on the market OVER 6 years!  Only two agents in that, but they didn't have the nerve, apparently, to tell the owners ther reality.  The home sat and sat.

I get so frustrated when I see this. Especially, from those top agents who supposedly sell so much real estate. I've seen listings sit on the market for years with these agents.

Unfortunately, there is always someone willing to take an overpriced listing, so this isn't an issue that will go away.  And once that house sits and sits, it gets harder and harder to sell. 

Great post, Mike.  Love the babysitting analogy.  This is something that will continue to happen though.  Some sellers can't come to grips with their home value and assume it's a lack of marketing.

Mike, this is a great post. There are litteraly zero homes that sell way above comp prices, just because the seller wants or needs more money.

There is nothing wrong with an overpriced listing, as long as the seller is aware of it, so I guess I'm in the minority. It gets your sign in the yard so you get calls from buyers who will buy something else and still earn the listing agent a commission as a buyer's agent for that buyer. It gets your name out in the neighborhood, and other neighbors root for you to sell that home at that price and they might be willing to sell their home too. It gives the agent an opportunity to hold an open house and meet other sellers and other buyers in the neighborhood, and make a positive impression. It's a pretty good opportunity for a listing agent to do everything BUT sell that home. Unless by some miracle the seller finally decides to take his agent's advice and lower the price.

wise advice, but it seems that some people will just never learn...

There is a Broker in the area in which I work who owns three properties there.

He has a vested interest in holding prices high. He does not have a reputation for selling a lot of properties.

Because of his vested interest in holding prices up, I don't see how he could fairly represent a Buyer in his neighborhood.

Mike, it's funny when you say it (so rightly)

"We're in the home selling business. If we're not selling these homes, we're in the home babysitting business!"

Well we know the first agent was desperate and dumb, and the seller had no trouble finding a second agent that was desperate and dumb. Of course we all know that lightning can strike or we can win the big lottery, but guess what, I haven't seen that happen but once in 58 years of investing and brokering. But my experience shows it can happen every 58 years so far, thats good enough for some agents I guess. I do believe that the agent thinks they will get a couple of buyer leads and a deal from the sign and maybe, just maybe the sellers will actually see the light.

It does give the neighbors a good laugh though and a chance to tell people they are asking x dollars for homes in my neighborhood and brag a little. One expired who called me and I was familiar with didn't like my comment of  look I know you home and I know you, I think you should just extend with your present agent and brush the cobwebs off your sign that is there now, and patiently wait the 6 or 7 years until homes start selling for what you want for yours in your neighborhood and buyers will even consider your price. This guy was on his 3rd agent, none of which even got a reduction of a dollar. He even got madder when I told him look, I like what your doing because when I get a prospect that wants to overprice by a lot I can drive them by your place as a good example of what not to do.

A few days late I ran into the wife in the drug store. She chewed me out for getting her husband upset and I said well you the blame for that, you know he is an idiot and you keep signing listings so he can continue to be one. I don't care if you ever reduce your price, you two are just helping my listing sell, after getting the price on your place, my listings look like we are giving them away. You don't like what the agents tell you, you don't like what the buyers are telling you when you don't get any offers at all, and if you did get a sucker to pay anywhere close to your price, the bank is smart enough not to loan that much money on that house, so you will need a sucker that just won the lottery and isn't to bright.If you guys are really serious get your information from the same source as the bank uses, get a formal appraisal. They get paid the same amount whether their research shows you home is worth ten bucks or a million so have no motive not to give you a fair price, call one.

I felt a little bad about my lack of tact so I went back to the office and printed out what buyers could get for the price they were asking and dropped it off and said drive by these and compare them to yours, and then call a broker that won't fold when you demand they list at your dream or wish price. list it at the price the appraiser came up with and make copies to give to buyers looking at the property. I about fell off my chair when a month later they called and said come list it, I was expecting an some old lady to drop by with a basket of poisoned apples, too many Disney films I guess..

AMEN!!! Fantastic topic... especially this week in my world.  It's funny that sellers are afraid of pricing a home too low but not more afraid of pricing it too high.  If a home is priced too low (when really does that EVER happen??), the market will respond with multiple offers that drive the price up.  And overpricing just causes a precious loss of market time.  I'm done with agreeing to those few weeks where we "Just make sure".....!

Overpriced listings are a nightmare. Everyone ends up miserable.  The truth is what the seller needs to hear.  They may not choose you as the listing agent because others will promise the moon, but in the end you will know that you were honest with them.  Some people will say anything to get a listing.  Its sad. 

There will always be an agent who will list at whatever price the seller wants to list at... eventually they learn to pick and choose their work load as well!

Mike, how right you are.  I truly think some brokerages are all about market share.  Let them wallow in their thinking and unsold listings.  Some for sale signs start growing roots..  After a while, any agent worth their salt knows which agents/brokerages do this.  What I don't like is when it reflects bad upon the whole Realtor community, and gives us a black eye.  

Mike, true, true, true. And who ends up getting hurt in the process both financially from taking an overpriced listing to people potentially talking about why you "the lisitng agent" did not get it sold.

Good topic, I do not understand wht agents take over priced listings, it affects your DOM, I use realistic prices for my homes and thet sell.

Overpriced listings are wonderful when they're located near the entry of a community.  I'd meet a lot of new clients, holding open houses as often as possible.