"increase" the price when you cant sell???

[UrbanPlanner]

Hi guys and girls

I have been looking at a property which has been listed for a while now, 3x1, decent block, house in relatively good condition, ok area. It has been listed at 440-455k since i first saw it. Anyway, i have recently gained access to the reiwa members area (very similar to RP Data) and when looking up the for sale history, it started at 400k!?! It has been listed for over 160 days now and the price has gone UP?!

can anyone shed some light onto why this is the case??

I've also searched recent sales within a 500m radius and the sales figures dont justify such an increase in price.

 

[Brett IP]

It wasnt a 400-500k price range or something like that was it?

A house close to us went up in price when they changed real estate agents. Its still sitting there months later.

If your interested you can make them an offer around the 400k mark

 

[Ausprop]

people were probably offering $350k so they thought if they asked $450k they may get $400k?

 

[Brett IP]

Actually they most likely went out with the "starting from 400k..." line and as you said Ausprop, were most likely getting offers below that.

This is why I would never have an add stating the from amount because people always want to get it cheaper than asking price & who is going to pay more if you know what they want (in my area anyways), unless its a very hot market.

 

[UrbanPlanner]

nah it started at 400k flat, then the price was removed and was listed as auction, then again at 400k, then auction again, then even went up to 459k, and now for the past 2 or so months has sat on 440-455k.

it has been listed with the same REA the whole time as well which makes it even more bizzare. Could the owners be pushing for a higher price without considering the agents advice? Or does the agent have all the control over the listing price.

that was my next question re: offering about 400k. only thing is we're not in a position to buy until early next year but if the price stays at what it is, maybe it'll still be around..

 

[Brett IP]

If they keep stuffing around with the price and range, being the same agent, you may get your wish of it still being for sale early next year.

The agent may be changing the add constantly so it doesnt sit there exactly the same and go stale.

 

[csc2]

sometimes if the home is appraised by different agents spruking what they can get for the place this may be why..agents want listing and will bend you over backwards to get the listing anyway they can....

theres a home currently at the coast that was initially listed at $487k by an agent...he had it for 30 days then it went to another who listed is at $565k...................its now $579 with another......this has been going on for six mths now...

worth $450k max realistically so maybe the seller is foxing hoping to jag a sucker?

yours maybe the same..

 

[UrbanPlanner]

people were probably offering $350k so they thought if they asked $450k they may get $400k?

ah that makes sense. So why throw in the odd auction along the way? Just to mix up the REA's approach?

its not a hot market at all imo, there are many around the area selling below 400k and the ones that are listed have been listed for some time now

 

[marg4000]

A lady I worked with some time ago was forever selling stuff through the trading post. If an item didn't sell, she increased the price. Surprising how often she got a sale this way.
Marg

 

[Ace in the Hole]

Suprisingly, this strategy may just work.

In business, if you're struggling to make profits, a good rule is to put your prices up 10%.
More often than not, this works, so I've been told.
We have experienced this type of reaction in business too.
If you have 3 similar items with low, medium and high price, suprisingly, the high priced item sells a large majority of the time, even if the cost price is close to the same.

Obviously, buying real estate is a little different, but this strategy may get people questioning why the place is "worth" that much?

 

[dl2276]

Maybe they are not in a hurry to sell so their logic would be the longer they leave it the more it is theoretically worth.

Have experienced this first hand with an IP a family member recently sold. Was tenanted and listed about 12 months ago. We monitored comparable sales and in the Sydney 'mini-boom' this year prices did go up..... so ended up adjusting the price about 3 times (increase each time).

In the end the property sold for full asking price with the same tenant over the 12 month period. The price was the top end of comparable sales.

I personally wouldn't do it as I think it would just turn potential buyers off and the listing becomes stale.

 

[stevie_sloth]

This SO annoys me!!

There's a place we looked which was for around $400k, it went to auction, didn't sell, then appeared for $420k, didn't sell, so it was re-listed with another agent for $459k, still hasn't sold. BIG SHOCK. lol

 

[Steve Fitz]

Has it been rezoned? Perhaps ring the agent and find out what has changed. There may be good reason.

 

[UrbanPlanner]

No rezoning and it's not set to be rezoned (not any time soon anyway), it's already a duplex size block and has been from day 1 but the location is slightly undesirable so maybe, like you said, contact the agent and see what the deal is. I can see it being there for a while lol.

 

[UrbanPlanner]

ok, so the subject property is still on the market, despite the REA putting a feature article in the local paper (which did very little in the way of selling). I inspected in yesterday and found out it is actually a bank sale . The REA wouldn't disclose what that magic number was that the bank needed but is it safe to assume that it is 400k (or thereabouts)?? Purely because it was originally listed at that price after 2 unsuccessful auctions so surely it couldnt be more than that, right?!

It also looks like the previous owners had nearly finished some additions - they've added a massive loungeroom and also a master b'room, ens and WIR. I say nearly cos there is no ceiling in the master b'room but thats about all thats left to do.

Do banks usually counter-offer? or do they just straight up say no?