REALTORS(R) don't like "priced reduced" signs

Chris

This is too funny, straight from the Puget Sound Business Journal. Dick Beeson, director of the NWMLS, doesn't want those nasty "price-reduced" signs. WHAT!? Well, of course, if people don't see those signs they won't know that prices are going down.

I just pulled my violin out of my pocket and am tuning it up.

Here's the article, but you need a subscription. Does anyone have access to the whole story?

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stor ... tory2.html

ira s

It isn't only realtors who don't like the price reduced signs. I had a listing for a condo and had to practically throttle the seller to get her to agree to drop her price( "well, an identical unit sold for 320 in July, I should get at least that!"), and then when I changed the wording of the MLS listing to say that the price had been reduced, she told me to change it, that stating that a price had been reduced was " too crass", like I was selling used cars.

rose-colored-coolaid

Like most advertising, 'price reduced' is just a slogan with no real meaning. If I see a sale at a store for 20% off, does that mean I need to buy that product? Does it even mean that the new reduced price is a bargain. I can take any shack, price it for $12 trillion, then when it doesn't sell, reduce the price to $10 trillion. And it's still a bad deal.

The only reason realtors dislike 'price reduced' is that it's additional confirmation to their fears that nothing is selling. That, and if 40% of houses for sale have a 'price reduced' sign up, people will want to know why the house they are looking at hasn't had the price reduced yet.

Scuba Steve

ira s wrote:

It isn't only realtors who don't like the price reduced signs. I had a listing for a condo and had to practically throttle the seller to get her to agree to drop her price( "well, an identical unit sold for 320 in July, I should get at least that!"), and then when I changed the wording of the MLS listing to say that the price had been reduced, she told me to change it, that stating that a price had been reduced was " too crass", like I was selling used cars.

People still believe that? I thought that word had gotten around by now.

I know a realtor. She's new at things, just graduated from Western Washington last spring. Keeps on talking about how things are going up, buy now, ... Also seems a little desperate for leads.

WestSideBilly

Scuba Steve wrote:

People still believe that? I thought that word had gotten around by now.

Based on empirical evidence of my social circle, the vast majority of people still believe our housing market is healthy, appreciating, and a good investment.

Scuba Steve

I guess I could see that if I didn't move last summer. I mean, it's obvious that there's a problem in other parts of the country but maybe people here haven't gotten the word yet. Kind of like in 2006 I had to go to Long Beach on an assignment for work from August - October, and when I showed up there were signs on the ground at every stoplight for people looking for real estate investors, 'apprentices' in real estate, ... And all of a sudden sometime in September all of those signs vanished and were replaced with 'Stop foreclosure now!' and things like that. It was a few months after that before I started to hear about how things had changed over there.

perfectfire

Scuba Steve wrote:

I mean, it's obvious that there's a problem in other parts of the country but maybe people here haven't gotten the word yet.

Yup. I would say most people are aware that there is some sort of real estate problem going on. But it's happening in other parts of the country. It's not happening here and it couldn't happen here because we have jobs and a good economy. They never stop to think that most of the place that are deep in a real estate slump had good economies too.