Thread: After 90 days with no offers! Seller decides that house is priced too low and raises

Last week my client and I looked at a home located in Cooper City,Florida.It`s a 4bed,2.5ba,2CG Single family home that needs some work. It`s situated in a great neighborhood and was listed for $499,000.
The home has been on the market for 90 days and there have been no offers! I`ve been in the business long enough to realize that if a home is on the market for any length of time than two things are happening.
1- The price is too high and should be adjusted.
2- The seller quite possibly isn`t ready to sell and is testing the market.
On Saturday I received a call from our buyer who wanted to place an offer on the home. We sent them tons of information about the area. The school system is what "Sold" them on the area.
We agreed to meet late in the afternoon and "Place an offer" on the home. I decided to get everything ready.I went onto the MLS and the home was no longer listed at $499,000,instead it was now listed at $550,000!
Astounding, I figure my eyes are playing tricks on me and decide to call the agent to find out what`s going on!
The conversation is as follows:
Me: The house was listed for 90 days without any offers,instead of lowering the price you raised it,why??
Agent: It`s very simple our seller has an appraisal for $550,000 and felt that the reason we weren`t getting offers at $499K is because the price is too low!
Me: Let me get this straight, the home hasn`t had much traffic,no offers, and you agreed with the sellers to raise the price in order to get it sold! That`s a first!
Agent: We have a better chance of attracting a buyer at a "Higher Price"...
Me: The market is shifting,are you sure that the seller is interested in selling?!
Agent: My seller doesn`t care about market conditions,for that matter neither do I! Either put you`re offer together or don`t! My job is to get my seller the "Highest and best Price`"...
It`s hard to imagine that in a market as we`re experiencing today, a seller would actually raise the price of their home $50K,thinking that they priced it too low!
Worse, it`s hard to believe that an agent would actually not educate their client about the market!
We informed the buyer about the change of events and they laughed! My buyer asked if the seller planned on "Framing" the $550K appraisal!

Your Seller did the right thing - I would have laughed to and walked away. Sounds to me like the seller is not serious. Don't waste your time or your Buyer's time - move on!

Good Luck!

I would have offered 450,000.

That just goes to show some people don't belong in this business. Part of the problem is it is too easy to get a license and not enough education required for agents.

Agreed, I think you should have to intern with another sucessful agent for at least 6 months prior to having a full license.

Tell them homes in Parkland appraised at $950,000 are selling for $660,000 all day long. We would offer $385,000 for that house.

To me, a list price has no real value. The value is in the sold pricing for the area. Present an offer based on sold data and back up your decision. Present the offer in person if they will allow.