I’ve noticed here and there, some of the new listings that have come on in the last few weeks are priced higher now than what they sold for 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 years ago. As if prices have gone up, not down since then. And I don’t mean just a few bucks higher, I’m seeing prices10% and more higher when, in fact, they should be 20% or more lower.
And I wonder what brings this on now. Is it because we’re in the early innings of our in-season and sellers & their agents figure there’s time to test the waters and still have time to drop back down if needed before June rears its head. Or is it because the inventory is low and they figure their chances are better now than they’ve been, so go for it. It’s possible, anything’s possible, it’s not likely, but possible.
But I recently met with a few sellers who wanted to list their houses, and I got to see first hand their thinking on list prices. And with a few exceptions I don’t even list houses anymore. I just prefer to work with buyers. But over the last few months quite a few people called me to talk about listing their house. And at first I just thanked them and declined, explaining that I don’t list anymore. But then I got more calls and I thought, what the heck, I’m not all that busy with buyers, that’s for sure, so maybe I should think about listing again. So I went on a few listing appointments.
And I was very upfront with everyone. I explained that I work mostly with buyers, but would on occasion take a listing. And that I was now considering dipping my toes a little deeper into the listing end of the pool. And after touring the house and chatting we eventually got around to the money part. We looked at comps and talked about the market and what I thought their house should be listed for, and why I thought so, and so on. And the more we talked the chillier it got.
And I found that many of them didn’t need me at all, or any Realtor really, they already knew what they wanted to list it for. And it usually had very little to do with the realities of the market. When push came to shove, though no one quite said so out loud, the attitude was ‘the heck with the comps and the market and all that mumbo-jumbo, this is a great house & I’ve got XX in it and I want what I want and that’s what I’m going to list it for’ Imagine, in this day and age?
And that cured me of the listing bug. And I’ve since resolved to stick to what I like best, working with buyers - except maybe for a past client, a friend, or a special property, that’s priced right - and I’ll leave the chilly discussions to the listing agents who somehow manage to do it day in day out.
see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Foothills home
Comments