Just inside the guard gate at Catalina Foothills Estates 10 the little house that had served as the former sales office for Cat 10 many years ago, finally sold today. But because it was so foolishly overpriced for so long, it ended up being sold by the lender.
A real estate agent (who shall remain nameless) listed it in July 2006 for $749,000, and that was it, it couldn't do anything but fail.
It's a teeny house, more like a doll house really- 1004 sq. ft., or $746/sq. ft. at that (ridiculous) price, with one bedroom, one bath, and just a little mini-kitchenette, and it sits adjacent to the guard gate and straddles Hacienda del Sol rd. So not the most desirable location either.
So after struggling through two years in a declining market, and playing with the price - lowering it, then raising it again - it finally sold today for the fire sale price of $202,000.
And to make matters worse, just one year before they put it up for sale at $749,000, the sellers had bought this little house for $405,000. What or who made them think they could get $749,000 for it 12 months later.
Here's another.
A house at 6052 N Paseo Zaldivar in Alta Vista was listed for three months at $1,499,000. Way too high, so of course it didn't sell, and the listing expired, and they got rid of that agent and got a new one.
And the new agent, or someone, had a very different idea of what the house was worth, and now they listed the very same house for $849,000. So in one swoop it went from $1,499,000 to $849,000.
At least one of those prices is way way off base, wouldn't you say.
These are just two recent examples of dumb pricing, and there are many more. So whether you're buying or selling, make sure your agent really knows the Foothills market, understands pricing, knows what's selling, what's not, and for how much, and is not just blowing smoke and telling you what they think you'd like to hear. Mistakes like this can be very costly to your financial well-being.
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