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A stiff shot of the market remedies seller sickness

By JAMES THORNER, (Un)Real Estate
Published November 24, 2007

The customer is always right, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm talking about Tampa Bay area home sellers who refuse to drop prices on their homes.

An exasperated Ann Guiberson, head of the Pinellas Realtor Organization, says asking prices are up over last year by a few thousand dollars. How can that be? We're stuck in a Florida-wide housing retraction with talk of 25 percent price declines in the air.

Call it Home Seller Sickness. I had the affliction earlier this year when I sold my house after wrestling with the dead-weight market for more than half a year. The disease has four stages, ranging from prickly denial to glum acceptance:

Stage 1 - My House Is Better Than Your House: You list your house for $300,000. Your neighbor lists the same model for $275,000. Of course, you can justify the premium you're charging. Your kitchen has new floor tile, handmade by Venetian artisans. Your neighbor has brown linoleum, circa 1979. You start pricing the Toyota Highlander you'll buy with the profits. House hunters respond by treating your home as if it's the Bates Motel.

Stage 2 - Maybe I Was a Little Rash: You're forced to drop the asking price to $275,000. Sure, you're still not undercutting your neighbor, but that guy's a slob. Did you see the orange paint in his living room? Hasn't redecorated since Fonzie was on TV. Plus, you've installed the best aromatherapy system on the block. One whiff of "ocean breeze" and "fresh laundry" and buyers will be racing for the contracts.

Stage 3 - You're Going to Make Me Work for This, Aren't You?: Six months pass. Neither you nor your neighbor has sold. You drop the price to $249,999. Your Realtor insists on the $999 trick: Make the house look desirable. Cancel the Toyota SUV purchase. Settle for an electric scooter.

Stage 4 - Will Somebody Please Kill Me Now?: You drop your home price to $234,900. It's the cheapest house on the block. The buyers finally make an appearance, but demand you knock off another $15,000. You accept an offer just to be done with it. They nitpick you to death, insist you fix every jiggly doorknob or else void the contract. The buyer's smile at closing contrasts with your frown. You blame your Realtor. It's all her fault.

But the scooter ride home is invigorating.

James Thorner can be reached at thorner@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3313.

Read Thorner's blog about the housing market at (Un)Real Estate at blogs.tampabay.com/realestate.

[Last modified November 23, 2007, 22:23:53]