A Step Down for The Seller ?
One of the most important lessons I learned as a listing agent is to tell the truth to sellers - especially regarding pricing. It can be a sensitive topic or subject, especially in this market. Sometimes the truth is not great news. And in the big picture, it is not myself telling the news often, it is the real estate market telling the news.
For one of our listings, after countless open houses and not many showings, we recommend price reduction after price 
reduction with hesitation and reluctance from the seller. The final decision ? To change agents. So the decision was to lose the best marketers in the neighborhood because it was easier to try with someone else and roll the dice and be in denial then to face the truth.
So when the new listing went up several weeks ago it has been on the MLS without any photos. No videos have been done. No blogs, no local presence in the neighborhood, no social media marketing. Perhaps the new agent will step it up, but I have a feeling that is not going to happen. Oh and by the way, the listing price was raised $10,000 .
I see this morning that there is now ONE exterior photo in the MLS, just in time for a broker open. Better late than ever. 24 more photos to go...
The big picture for us is that if a seller is not willing to take our advice, chances our their property is not going to sell. Going with another agent will not be the solution. Often times, it will just be a step down which will hurt the final sales price as the marketing exposure may greatly suffer. And of course what will happen if they ever do make it to negotiations ?
What are your thoughts ?
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Honesty is truly the best policy in Real Estate. I've walked away from many potential listings, on purpose, because I knew we (seller and myself) would not make a good team and most of the time, it was about the price!
Chris & Stephanie,
Those sellers are clearly in denial. Not everyone will drink the cool aid but to switch agents and raise the price is not going to make the grade! You are better off without a time waster of a listing!
Betsy
I have also had the same problem regarding price reduction!!! their answer always "we do not want to give our house away" usually walking away is the best answer. What hurts is sometimes they go with another Realtor & list at a lower price.......
I don't list a home unless the price is right. Today, even when the price is right, the incentives are plentiful, and the marketing is great the home may still not sell. I don't want the stress that unhappy and unrealistic sellers cause.
David- Honesty is the best policy indeed. It is important to be on the right page with the seller. Communication is important as it is marketing. But at the end of the day, you can have all the marketing and all of the bells and whistles, but if the price is not right, it will not matter. Still, with that being said, the agent needs to have the guts and balls to communicate that info to the seller. For example, new data might become pertinent or just the fact that the property has been the market for a bit and there has not been enough activity and you have all of the marketing out there.
Betsy - Agreed. We were not sorry to see the listing go, especially when our recommendations were not being taken.
To be honest, I know sometimes people just want a fresh start. They may not know that the marketing will suffer, but to them, they get a fresh start. So I was expecting to see a new listing $25K or $50K lower and I was hoping that for them and for the neighborhood that this property will sell. Not for it to be $10K higher with no photos for over 2 weeks...
Bina- That does hurt sometimes. That is the nature of the business. I benefit from that often myself as I can be the 2nd or 3rd agent in and I will get the listing at a lower price when the agent before me either mispriced the property or the seller had too high expectations. In this case, as I mentioned in the prior comment, I would have been happy to see the listing $25K to $50K lower. It is in a neighborhood where I sell a lot of properties. I would rather have one less property on the market with another agent selling it. Heck, if it was properly priced, I would not mind bring a buyer myself. Where it is now, especially with the price increase, I cannot justify to bring a buyer to the property.
I agree, you should never try to sugar coat market value and it seems best to prepare a seller for the worst, then if you get more, they are happy.
Sheila - I agree. It is really tough out there, especially with rehab and renovation properties. These types of properties work best when we are involved in the beginning, where we can help and advise a buyer from the acquisition price, construction costs, finishings, etc... In this case, we were not. However, we did provide constant advise regarding the finishings of the property. Everything that we advised the seller chose to do the opposite. What can you do ? The end product that was delivered was far different than what was originally proposed which of course significantly affected the pricing...
Big picture is that our advice means a lot since we have done this many times before and have sold countless homes !!! It is up to sellers to take the advice... or not.
Sometimes it is just easier (and less expensive) to cut your losses. Sellers need to fully understand the amount of work that goes into marketing their property. It's not as simple as inputting it into the MLS...there is soooo much more!
You are so much better off in the long run when dealing with sellers (or buyers) who are unrealistic! Disappointing to see people who think changing agents can somehow change the market.
When sellers don't take our advise it is better to let them go ! Especially in this market when prices are decreasing not increaseing ..
Helpfulhannah