What's wrong with this listing ... let me count the ways
I just noticed a new listing come on the market and it was in a neighborhood that I focus on but the price seemed a little high compared to others. I clicked for more details and what a surprise, I was very familiar with the house because my wife and I were considering buying it several years ago. Once I knew specifically which house in the neighborhood it was, I thought the price not only seemed a little high, it was positively outrageous.
Does this seller really want to sell or just be inconvenienced?
Do you think there is any chance that a home has gone up in value by 47% in the last 19 months in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market or in any real estate market in the country?
There are 2 answers for that, the proverbial slim and none and slim left town.
This seller purchased this home in December 2005 for $278,500. Nice home, lots of upgrades on a good lot in a very popular neighborhood. All good.
A year and a half later apparently it's time to sell. I would suggest the first mistake might be not living in the house for 2 full years so that no capital gains taxes would apply but I don't know the seller's specific financial situation. At a listing price of $409,000, they likely won't sell it by December 2007 so capital gains won't likely be a factor.
Mistake number 1. Price. Price. Price.
So what makes this home so special that it is priced a mere $100,000 more than a similar house being offered in the neighborhood. Nothing that I can think of but obviously the sellers believe it is worth it or they wouldn't be asking for it or it was a major data entry error by the agent and he/she meant to price it at $309,000 which is what I might have listed it for if I was asked although if the sellers really wanted to sell, pricing it at either $299,900 or a flat $300,000 would have been better.
But on the premise that the sellers really believe their home is worth listing for $409,900, let's start there with another pricing mistake. Anyone searching for property on the Internet will bracket their price range so anyone searching from $350,000 to $400,000 will not see the house. Those searching from $400,000 to $450,000 will see it but the house is then positioned at the lower side of the desirables. You can price it at $400,0000 and capture both search parameters which is something I generally like to do when a property is at near a data point. You would then be the highest of the lower priced search and the least expensive of the higher priced search.
Now how can this seller really believe that their home has appreciated by 47% in the past year and a half. Have they been living under a rock and not noticed what the housing market has been like both here in Charleston and around the country. The media coverage is non stop. The local newspaper and the television news are full of stories about the housing bubble. While we have been very fortunate in the Charleston real estate market to not seen prices falling dramatically, there is nearly twice as much inventory and 20% fewer unit sales on single family homes in the past year. From the statistics that are presented here every month, you can clearly see prices have been stable to slightly up. Slightly up means approximately 5% appreciation. Toss in an extra 7 months and maybe you've got 10% appreciation, add that to the $278k paid and the price should be right around $300k. Where in the world could you possibly come up with a listing price of $409,900 for this house in this housing market.
Price aside, what else is going wrong with this listing. The agent indicated in the notes that the sellers did not want a sign or MLS lockbox on the house but would be happy to let you in.
Strike one, strike two, strike three. Batter out.
No sign. Less visibility. No lockbox. Inconvenience. The agent who might want to show the property is inconvenienced because they might not be able to view it when they and their client wants to and may not be able to see it at the sellers convenience and might pass on showing the property preferring to show houses that are easier to view. Perhaps the sellers know in their heart they really have no chance to sell their home and don't want to be embarrassed months from now when the sign comes down and they are still living there and their neighbors will want to know the gory details.
Last but not least, buyers want to have privacy when viewing a home. They want to feel comfortable and not have the seller hovering nearby or even in the house. They don't want to be rushed in the viewing and want to discuss the house with their agent without being overheard.
Do these sellers really want to sell? I don't know. Will this house sell? Slim left town.
Anyone want to buy it? 