If the house goes on the market already “pending,” then other legitimate buyers don’t have a chance to make offers (that will be accepted).
If a house sits on the market for months or years, we shouldn’t be looking at the list price as a benchmark, as 20-30% off of list might still be 10-20%+ higher than market price. Too many people are listing their homes for prices that have nothing to do with what’s going on in the current market. Smart buyers know where the values are, and they should certainly know that list prices are just that — what the sellers hope to get for their homes. It has nothing to do with market price — past, or present. I’ve seen list prices that are much higher than what the sales price was at the peak of the bubble!
Buyers should be looking at historical sales data, and they should be making offers at around levels seen in 2000-2002.
While everyone here knows how much I hate shady deals that seek to exclude other buyers, I’ve seen plenty of deals where someone had the intelligence and wherewithal to make offers well below list price…and they’ve managed to get the house. I don’t begrudge these people, I applaud them. There is nothing wrong with offering what the buyers feels is a fair price, as long as all buyers are able to make those same low offers, and they should get the house if they present the best offer.
