In a hot, cold, or balanced market, you’re always going to have sellers and listing agents who have no clue how to act.

Here are a few current and CLASSIC examples!

Oh, it was a rather frustrating weekend in real estate!

Not necessarily because there aren’t enough quality listings, or because I didn’t have things go my way, but rather because of how clueless sellers and listing agents often act.

Here are a few stories from the weekend that was…

Hellooooo?

This is like an advertisement for “Why not to list with a discount broker.”

There’s a unit for sale on Frederick Street that I wanted to show my client; a very active client who after seeing a dozen places is ready and willing to pull the trigger on one.

The property is listed by “Joe Blow Realty,” named after the only agent that works for the so-called “company,” and when you call the brokerage phone number listed on MLS, it goes directly to the agent’s cell phone.  Or in this case – directly to his voicemail.

And it’s a bizarre voicemail too!  It’s an automated message in an Australian accent!  You know the one that says, “Aaaaalllo…..no one is avaylable to take ya caaawl at this time…”

I left a message on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and not once was my message returned.

I feel terrible for the seller of this condo, who felt that saving $3-4K in commission was worth hiring an agent who is content to let the unit sit on the market and rot, and never return phone calls.  What if my phone call wasn’t to book a showing – what if it regarding an offer?

Absolutely, positively, clueless!

Offers Graciously Received…

I took another client to see a few townhouse-condos this weekend, and it was a real-world lesson in cluelessness…

We saw two townhouses in the same complex, both listed at $429,900.

The first one was smaller, and was a disgusting mess.  It looked like somebody was hosting an open house and left in the middle!  There were “sign-in” sheets on the counter, feature sheets and business cards scattered about the kitchen, and two styrofoam cups of what looked like orange juice, sitting on the counter and fermenting.  Ewwww….

The condo was being renovated, so it was a mess of construction debris.  Although, that didn’t stop them from putting the “PLEASE REMOVE SHOES” sign in the foyer.  Right.  So…..you’ve got drywall dust, paint, and sawdust all over the 900 square feet, but you’re worried my shoes might mess the place up?

And why the hell would you list a condo during a renovation?  Why not wait four days?  Clueless, I tell ya…

That unit was a disgusting waste of space, but the next one was gorgeous!  It was a very similar layout, except the living/dining area was larger, and they had about $30K in upgrades.  There was brand-new hardwood flooring throughout, including all the stairs (not cheap!), and a new kitchen (tiles, counters, cabinets, backsplash, lights, appliances).  Everything about this place was “done.”  The bathrooms were both new, the closets all had custom shelving, and the owners even put in new window coverings and light fixtures.

This unit was “renovated,” whereas the other unit was “under renovation.”  But that first unit that was being renovated didn’t really look like there was any value being added!  They were taking out the disgusting old carpet to install uglier, cheaper, but newer carpet.  Their paint job was sloppy, and the bed made from cardboard boxes wasn’t fooling anybody.

There was at least a $30,000 difference between the two units, possibly more.

However, the first unit – that awful, miserable mess, had a note in the broker’s remarks on MLS that said, “Offers graciously reviewed on November 12th at 7pm.  Please register by 5:30pm and provide certified deposit cheque with offer.”

Wow, somebody watches too many real estate television shows!

Not only will that unit fair to solicit an offer on “offer night,” but it will sit on the market for quite a while.  In the meantime, the other unit will sell, because good units SELL and bad units don’t!

Don’t Fear The Competition.

Here’s a real gem!

I had a listing in a downtown building a couple weeks ago where for some unknown reason, there were about 8-9 units listed in the space of one week.  I couldn’t explain it; there was simply no reason other than coincidence, and bad luck.

This was a building that used to get multiple offers on units priced in the $350K range, and suddenly, there was a new listing every day for a week!

My clients in the building listed their unit when there was one other unit for sale, and within a week, there were eight.

So would you agree that it’s a buyer’s market in this building?

Would you assume that any logical, rational seller would concede that the competition amongst sellers is fierce?

You probably would.  But you’re smarter than a lot of people…

One of these eight units was listed for sale, and the sellers and their Realtor decided that despite the lack of units selling in the building, and in spite of the ridiculous amount of competition, they would “hold back offers” for eight days after listing the condo.

Clueless!

Or maybe it was some sort of contradictory plan.  Maybe it’s like when every guy at the party is over talking to the insanely hot girl, and you completely ignore her – maybe she’s intrigued by you!  Maybe in this case, the sellers felt that by holding back offers, they would show the market and its participants that their unit was something special!

Right.  I say “maybe,” because I’m searching for reasons why this happened.  I see it like this: You’re standing next to seven other people in a race, and right when the race starts, you cut off one of your legs.  Then you try to win the race, and when you come last, you wonder what you did wrong….

FYI – we sold our listing.  All the others are still available.  Not bragging; just concluding the story…

Switching Gears…

We’re starting to see a LOT more of this.

A house was listed in the east end for $979,000, and the offer date came and went without a sale.

The listing remained active for three weeks, and then the listing was terminated and the house was re-listed at the shiny new price of $897,000……with offers “graciously reviewed” a week later.

The day after offers were reviewed, the house was still for sale.

The listing agent said that he was “expecting” a couple of offers, and I asked him to keep me in the loop.

Later that day, he came clean, and told me that the house ‘needed’ to sell for around $950K or else the seller would re-list in in the spring.  He gave me a breakdown of all the expenses the sellers had, and all the upgrades they made to the house, as if somehow that mattered to anybody but them…

My client, to whom I sent the listing agent’s explanation, put it perfectly:

“Funny how people feel they are entitled to get their money back AND make 15% on their investment.  Good luck in the spring when the market regresses further.”

He’s absolutely right.

Seller’s have different motivations for selling, and clearly this isn’t somebody that “needs” to sell (ie. they bought a larger house and close in December), but the entitlement in today’s real estate seller in Toronto makes me cringe.  This person is clearly trying to sell a fifty-dollar-bill for sixty bucks, and it’s not working, no matter what “strategy” they try.

You can’t fool the market.  Sellers and their agents might be utterly and hopelessly clueless, but buyers are smarter than that.

Buyers who see a house at $979,000 aren’t going to be tricked into paying $950,000 for it when it’s listed at $897,000 with a  “hold back” on offers.

I can’t wait for the day when houses are listed at fair market value, and pricing games fall by the wayside.  Is that day ever going to come?

That day is never going to come.

Oh.  Well, I guess I answered my own question…

I wish I could give out the addresses, but let’s just call these two properties “House-A” and “House-B,” and divulge that they’re in the same neighbourhood, which seems to be the #1 area for pricing games at the moment.

House-A was listed in July for $929,900, with offers “graciously received” eight days later.  The offer date came and went, and the house did not sell.

So the listing agent terminated the listing, and then the same day, re-listed at the exact same price: $929,900.  Then in a move that can only be referred to as “astonishing,” or “clueless,” the listing agent once again specified that offers would be “graciously reviewed” a week later.

Let’s look at the logic here.  You try something that does not work in the slightest, and then you turn around and try the EXACT same thing again.  Genius!

That second consecutive listing failed to solicit any offers, so the listing was terminated.

And then in the cherry on top of this story, the property was re-listed in September $50K higher at $979,900.  This “offer date” also refused to produce any offers (how could it?  If nobody bought the house at $929K, who is going to buy it at $979K?), and the listing was terminated.

House-B is an even more frustrating tale.

This property was first listed for $999,000 back in May of 2012, and the “offer date” did not produce the desired multiple offers, let alone a single one.  I have it on authority that the seller here wanted to re-list higher at $1,099,000 (the price he wanted/needed all along), but the listing agent shot him down, and the house sat for two months, unsold.

House-B was re-listed in July for $959,000 with a different brokerage, and again the “offer date” did not produce satisfactory results.  This listing was terminated after 2 1/2 months.

Finally, House-B was re-listed in September for the rock-bottom price of $879,000 with “offers graciously reviewed” yadda yadda, but this time, when the house didn’t sell, the genius seller-listing-agent combo decided to RAISE the price to $929,000.  It’s currently available, if anybody is interested.

Kill me gently with a chainsaw.

Folks, there are a lot of clueless sellers and agents out there, and I have six more stories just like the ones above that did not make it into today’s blog.

Time and time again, I’ve seen sellers list and re-list their properties, only to realize that you can’t fool the market.

Ignore all the fluff, and stick to properties that are listed by reputable brokerages, with no pricing games, and no BS…