Some Charleston home sellers get it
and of course, a few still aren't paying attention.
[Satire ahead] Are they living under a rock?
One of the most helpful things for Charleston real estate agents is the "hot sheet" provided each day by the Charleston MLS for agents to see all new listings, homes back on the market, price changes, homes that are contingent, pending and sold as well as listings that are withdrawn and expired. It's an excellent tool to watch the ebb and flow of the market and better understand market trends.
Here's what I'm seeing lately.
Price reductions - With over 10,000 homes available for sale, some sellers are getting a little more serious and rather than knocking a hundred or a thousand dollars off list price, some sellers are taking more significant price reductions in a serious effort to be the next home under contract.
Overpriced homes - It continually amazes me that homes are listed for 10% or more than they sold for in the past year or two. Clearly, prices in the Charleston market peaked in late 2006 and of course, we have been very fortunate in Charleston to have had prices remain very stable up until the 4th quarter of 2008 when the financial crisis and the holiday season sharply reduced demand putting more pressure on prices and we saw our first declines in both median and average sales prices.
While buyer activity has certainly picked up beginning right after the first of the year, there is still so much inventory on the market that sellers have to price their homes to sell, not just sit on the market. So when I see a new listing that seems priced too high for a neighborhood that I follow and click on the history and see what the buyer paid a year or two ago and then see that it really isn't a new listing but the seller just selected a new agent to put their home on the market for the next 6 months at the same high price it didn't sell for in the past 6 months, I just have to think that this seller doesn't get it.
Short sales - There are many homes listed as short sales, sometimes it is clearly identified as such, other times it's buried in the description or privately in the agent notes. Sadly, in the past couple of days, I've seen several homes go under contract with a of 3rd party approval contingency but the listing never indicated that the home was a "possible short sale opportunity" in the first place.
Well, if it was such a wonderful short sale opportunity, how come it wasn't clearly listed as such. Are some sellers afraid that agents won't show their home because it is generally so difficult to get a short sale to closing. [Sorry for the little rant but ... as they say, short sales are never short (in time) and rarely result in a sale.]
Warning: Shameless self promotion ahead
By the way, here's a seller who gets it. I will be listing a home in a week for less than the seller paid 2 years ago [and best of all, it isn't a short sale]. So if anyone is interested in a very nice 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath end unit townhome in Mount Pleasant only a few miles from the Bridge and 10 minutes to the beach for under $200k, give me a call or send me an email and you'll be able to see it first.