Home Sweet Home: Welome to The Price Is Right

A while back, I wrote about my run-of-the-mill, non-short sale listing that I felt would be a good indicator of the current market. I called the post, "Consider the Tomato Frog."

At first, I thought there may have been a problem with my L.I.P., Listing Indicator Project, after I had a talked to couple who were interested in the property. They happened across my sign post after just two days of placing the sign post in the ground. Their interest in the property was welcome, but it threw everything off. I would have welcomed this problem with open arms, but alas, the fluke buyers could not stomach the idea of $3,000 a month payments. That would have been a surprising piece of luck.

Since the "DFT," (Deal Fell Through) We reduced the price from 508k to 481k. Things started to happen. Calls started to come in and within a few days an agent produced an offer after the first offer fizzled away. We were ready to enter into contract. The price was acceptable by the seller and the buyers were approved by a major lender. All was well.

Just as we were about to sign the an agreement (just hours from the deadline), I received a call from another agent who wanted to write an offer. Now, that's a problem I want to have. I informed the seller of the situation, and my opinion was to have her sit on the first offer until the second offer was reviewed. The second offer was significantly more than the first and offered just in time. Bingo!

Now, we are just a day away from the buyer removing their contingencies. Close of escrow is set for the end of the month.

So, I'm nearing the end of my L.I.P. As a professional real estate agent, http://www.tricityhome.com I have a fiduciary duty to the seller. Determining their listing price is up to them. Our opinion is helpful. But, once sellers acknowledge that the buyers market can only bear so much, and sellers conform to true market values, according to the tomato frog--the offers will come.

by Jeff Pereyda