How is this ‘market manipulation’? What is being manipulated and what’s wrong with switching brokers if the job is not getting done or your listing agreement expires?

You obviously have incomplete information using zip realty. You are correct, this has been on and off the market several times over the last year and brokers have been switched. It was tenant occupied the first 7 months, which should also be taken into consideration. As far as the price is concerned, the seller may be delusinal but that is their right.

Any serious buyer would be working with a R/E professional who would give them the correct scoop on this. What gets manipulated?

Any realtor worth a grain of salt knows DOM is a joke not just Jim. The main reason DOM stats are out there is because people ask for them. Calculating them accurately is nearly impossible. When people ask me I usually say I dont know followed by the statistics say about 50 to 60 days but I beleive 90 to 100 days is probably more accurate.

As far as manipulation goes, relisting may or may not be manipulation. The DOM is representative of how long the home has been on the market under the current listing contract. It’s a legal issue. When the contract expires and the property is unsold a few things can happen.

Extend listing and DOM keeps ticking (no manipulation).

Immediately relist with another agent (No manipulation)

Immediately relist with another agent that is part of the same team(manipulation- one very prominent Carlsbad husband, wife & child team is notorious in this practice)

Immediately relist with same agent (depends- some agents intentionally take short listings 45 to 60 days so they can do this. This is done by a great many of the high volume high profile agents so they can advertise that all their listings sell in 30 days.)

Take off market for at least 30 days and then relist with any agent (no manipulation)

I may have missed a few but it is not a clear cut issue.

To my point, you generally dont hear a Realtor quoted as saying “the market is fine just check out the avg DOM”. The statistic is put out in response to a question. Frankly, I suspect many realtors arent worth a grain of salt and dont realize how bad the stats are.

Does it seem like sellers are almost urged to do a price reduction, just so their house gets a “hit” when the search is for houses with price reductions?

That property has been on the market over 1 year. Most of the time it was in the MLS as an Open Listing which is essentially a FSBO posted in the MLS. It is now listed with a realtor at a lower but probably still over inflated price.

92007BSBL, If you have questions about a property just post it and I’ll answer it for you. It is one of my market areas.

I dont know whether I would say its painful for the owner of Dora. They tried to beat the system by going FSBO and failed. Their expectations were unrealistic and they have realized they are not going to be successful going it alone. Comps for this 1200 sq ft home are around 750K, if they get anything near that they will have done fine.

The other FSBO you mentioned looks to be a nicely remodelled home the owners have been in for about 5 years. It’s only 1000 sq ft and is on a very noisy street. The highest comps are about 680K. If they were truly anxious to sell they would be priced $50 to 100K lower.

As a buyer the lesson here is that FSBO’s are generally the worst deals on the market. Typically unrealistic sellers with mispriced properties and no experienced licensee to protect both buyer and seller from themselves. The sale in Escondido for Hidden Meadows model home was a perfect example of this. Get good professional help.

I agree with that assessment, and would avoid a FSBO. The people who go this route don’t have an impartial person to assist with the negotiation, and in RE deals, emotions get in the way at least once. The first emotion to get in the way is the seller’s ego, and he thinks his house is worth 20% more than it really is, because he feels he is special and thus his house is special, and someone will come along who sees the real value of this unique home and will pay much more than it is worth. Without a realtor to bring in some reality, the first mistake is made: a high price which prevents any showings. Without showings: no offers.

The other emotions that get in the way would be negotiation to fix things, compromises on dates and so on.

I like talking with the seller directly, but I have my doubts as to their ability to make a clean deal on their own home.