Overpriced Listings

I have read a couple of articles lately about overpriced listings. Why would an agent accept a listing on a home that had little chance of selling, particularly in a buyer’s market? Here are a few reasons for doing that – unfortunately none have to do with benefiting the seller. Other thoughts about this can be found on this thread on Zillow.

In our area, even tacking on $20,000 as negotiating room is a bad strategy. Look at the list-to-sales-price numbers in Worcester county (thank you, Trendgraphix):

The number has bounced around between 95-97% of sale price to current list price. In other words, buyers are pretty much waiting until a home is priced right, and not negotiating all that much. If you overprice your home by 10% in anticipation of negotiations, buyers will just wait until the lack of offers forces you to adjust your price.

In our area, regular buyers (not investors) expect a home that is move-in ready. They do not want a roofing allowance or flooring allowance – they want those issues to already have been addressed.

Or (from a hand-out that we give to sellers):

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