Being a Realtor has its ups and downs. Not every appointment is a success. Not every offer we write for a buyer is accepted.
Last year, I met with a widow who was selling her Glendale home. She had a reverse mortgage, so each month she owed more money. I met with her in March 2024 and explained the pricing strategy of negotiating up rather than down. Her home consisted of two bedrooms and one and a half baths. The house was not without its charm, but there were incurable defects. There were numerous flights of stairs. One leading to the front door, and then a two-story home. She had a tiny yard, just a small patio. There was a bonus room or golf cart garage, making it ideal for someone who was an Oakmont Country Club member. I suggested a list price of $1,499,000 and believed we would get multiple offers, pushing the selling price into the $1.5m range.
I followed up with her via calls and texts, but she ghosted me. In April 2024, she listed the home with another agent for $1,599,000. Fast-forward ten months, and the home went into escrow. It fell out of escrow in March, and the price was reduced to $1,550,000. Remaining on the market for five more weeks before going into escrow again. It finally closed escrow in May for $1,450,000, thirteen months after the initial listing.
Lesson learned: When you interview Realtors and receive widely different suggested list prices, choose the agent with the higher number only if you include a clause in the listing agreement that cancels the listing if they later ask for a price reduction. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Thirteen months is sure a long time to sell a house. Puts your whole life on hold
Actually, it was about one year… taking in account the price reduction and falling out of escrow. Those reverse mortgage pay offs increasing each month.