New Realtor Tactic: Convince Sellers to Give Up

The_Tim

I'm beginning to sense a new real estate salesperson theme...

Over at the Seattle Real Estate Booster Club, we've got this post: Take Your Home Off the Market

Leanne Finlay wrote:

Maybe the time has come to face the facts. Your house/condo isn't selling, and you don't really need to sell it, you just sort of thought it would be nice to sell it, the prices have been climbing, and gosh, honey, let's get a new place. Normally, those are good reasons to want to sell.
...
If your home isn't selling in a timely fashion, think of it this way: The buyers are telling you it is time for you to consider keeping your home, and enjoy it. So, either price your home competitively + and prep it to be the best condition you possibly can, or take it off the market, and enjoy it.

Also spotted on the P-I's "Sound Off" (capitalization changed to preserve your sanity):

Liberal Dragon wrote:

SELLERS: Buyers are playing a big game of chicken right now. Don't play the game... take your place off the market, rent it or wait it out and don't give in to the pressure to sell if you can.

The less inventory, the less the prices will drop. It's that simple. The economy is too strong here to go the way of a San Diego or phoenix - it just won't happen unless Microsoft stops hiring or any of the other major employers stop hiring. The economy is not bad here...

So bottom line - buyers are playing a big old game and sellers need to hold the line where they can and take reasonable discounts where it makes sense to sell, rent you properties (it's a landlords market now), hold the line or pricing or just take your houses off the market.

rose-colored-coolaid

It's enough to make you wonder what skin those two have in the water. A real agent only makes commission when a property sells, so any right thinker would have suggested something along the lines of "drop your price by 20%+ immediately to clear out inventory. It's OK, everyone else will have to do the same and you'll still be able to move up (or down)."

Fripp

I noticed the same trend over there (along with Larry's posts becoming more and more incoherent).

It would be interesting to hear if Leanne has been recommending this new strategy to any of her own listings.

WestSideBilly

rose-colored-coolaid wrote:

It's enough to make you wonder what skin those two have in the water. A real agent only makes commission when a property sells, so any right thinker would have suggested something along the lines of "drop your price by 20%+ immediately to clear out inventory. It's OK, everyone else will have to do the same and you'll still be able to move up (or down)."

Oddly enough, I don't think most RE agents have realized they're better off selling a dozen $200k properties than they are selling two $400k properties. There's no rational reason for a RE agent to want to promote high prices when the houses aren't selling as a result of those high prices.

hesotriflin

WestSideBilly wrote:

rose-colored-coolaid wrote:

It's enough to make you wonder what skin those two have in the water. A real agent only makes commission when a property sells, so any right thinker would have suggested something along the lines of "drop your price by 20%+ immediately to clear out inventory. It's OK, everyone else will have to do the same and you'll still be able to move up (or down)."

Oddly enough, I don't think most RE agents have realized they're better off selling a dozen $200k properties than they are selling two $400k properties. There's no rational reason for a RE agent to want to promote high prices when the houses aren't selling as a result of those high prices.

Yup. It's the same mentality as those real estate pron tv shows that equate high home prices with great places for families to move.

rose-colored-coolaid

WestSideBilly wrote:

Oddly enough, I don't think most RE agents have realized they're better off selling a dozen $200k properties than they are selling two $400k properties. There's no rational reason for a RE agent to want to promote high prices when the houses aren't selling as a result of those high prices.

[voice over]The Realtor's(R) oldest and greatest foe strikes again. CURSE YOU MATH! [Realtor(R) looks up to the sky shaking their fist as camera zooms out to capture 10s, no 100s, no 1000s of unsold and unsellable trillion dollar homes]

biliruben

A number of Realtors are also speculators and landlords. They have a huge advantage in transaction costs and insider info, so that makes sense.

They are doubly leveraged in this circumstance: both wealth and income decline. If RE goes down, their commissions go down, their transactions go down, their equity and borrowing power goes down, and their house-wealth goes down.

I had a bargain hunter friend searching for a deal in the $1m+ segment, who got two houses stolen from under him by Realtors who saw the bargain and used their insider tactics to win the war, offering less.

Dude was steamed.

Alan

Buyers are not some organized in some sort of cartel plotting together to get housing prices below the maximum point that are willing to spend.

The call for sellers to stick it to the buyers is a rallying cry to create a cartel of sellers to fight the imagined cartel of buyers. It won't work. There is no way to enforce the cartel so the owners who try to cooperate will just get screwed.

I agree that people who aren't really that interested in selling should probably take their homes off the market.

deejayoh

Alan wrote:

Buyers are not some organized in some sort of cartel plotting together to get housing prices below the maximum point that are willing to spend.

Oh, yes they are. Seattle Bubble Cartel. That's Tim's nefarious plan. Just wait until the "Poisoning the Housing Well" Powerpoint comes to light!

jon

Sellers are not organized, but the 6%ers certainly are. If anything, this is them trying to get their clients to take their properties off the market so the realtors can unload their investment properties first.

cheapseats

Hey King county homes busted through 13K, at least someones trying to do something about that.

sorin

It makes good sense that if you have people who aren't willing to work within the dynamics of a buyers market, getting them to take their houses off the market means a little less distraction for the listings of more motivated sellers. Listings that an agent might make a commission on. The listings from inflexible and unrealistic owners are just a waste of everyone's time.

Robroy

The Tim wrote:

Also spotted on the P-I's "Sound Off" (capitalization changed to preserve your sanity):

Liberal Dragon wrote:

SELLERS: Buyers are playing a big game of chicken right now. Don't play the game... take your place off the market, rent it or wait it out and don't give in to the pressure to sell if you can.

The less inventory, the less the prices will drop. It's that simple. The economy is too strong here to go the way of a San Diego or phoenix - it just won't happen unless Microsoft stops hiring or any of the other major employers stop hiring. The economy is not bad here...

So bottom line - buyers are playing a big old game and sellers need to hold the line where they can and take reasonable discounts where it makes sense to sell, rent you properties (it's a landlords market now), hold the line or pricing or just take your houses off the market.

Heh, heh, that liberal dragon seems to think there is a buyers "conspiracy". This whole thing is what normally happens: Sellers that don't need to sell, take their homes off the market. Unfortunately, a lot of upside down owners who cannot make their payments really don't have that option.

This line was fun: "The economy is too strong here to go the way of a San Diego or phoenix - it just won't happen unless Microsoft stops hiring or any of the other major employers stop hiring. The economy is not bad here..."

And put in the context of todays news that the increase in fuel prices could cause a cancelling of a third of boeings orders.

And last, and my favorite: "...rent you properties (it's a landlords market now)..."

No, it isn't. I know landlords and renters. It is a renters market - still. Especially if everyone takes their home off the market and tries to rent it out. 8)

cheapseats

Where were these realtors during the bubble? I understand that they aren't stupid, they take the money when they can and become a "financial advisor" when their revenue stream is affected, but advising a seller to delist, as a policy that is not seller specific, sounds borderline un-ethical.

What if "bubble heads" led a concerted effort to make offers on homes to tie up realtors, sellers and sales and then backed out repeatedly at the last second, with the intent of driving down asking prices?

I am not saying that is a good idea, I just find it odd what some people who call themselves professionals are willing to say. The one good thing about RCG and the PI blogs is that I definitely know at least a few realtors to cross of my list, as well as some to potentailly add.

jillayne

Jon, this is absolutely hilarious:

"Sellers are not organized, but the 6%ers certainly are. If anything, this is them trying to get their clients to take their properties off the market so the realtors can unload their investment properties first."