Long Days on Market – Good or Bad for Buyers?

October 23, 2008 | By Kelley Koehler | Filed Under Home Buying 

Speaking of long days on market…

Question: Is a high days on market in Tucson good or bad for me as a home buyer?

Answer: It depends.  A house that has been sitting the market forever could mean several things. 

If the price hasn’t changed in a long time, it could mean that the Seller isn’t very anxious to sell, and is waiting for a fantasy buyer to snatch up their home at the fantasy price. 

If the price hasn’t changed in a while, it could also be that the Seller is bumping up against their break-even point, and doesn’t have cash to bring in to sell at any lower price, and doesn’t want to short sell the place.

If there have been regular price adjustments, then that Seller is probably ready to get out of the house, and may be ready to make a deal.  They may have started their price too high, or are in an area with lots of bank owned homes, and are chasing the market downwards to compete with those kinds of prices.

There’s always more to the story than just the days on market.  A peek at the history and a call to the listing agent will usually give us better perspective. 

Comments

Got something to say?







Get Blog Posts Via Email!
Search this Site
Loading

Got A Question? Ask!

Other Information That Might Be Helpful

  • When the Sales Price Isn’t The Market Value (October 14, 2009)

    I was doing some market value research the other day for a little Central Tucson house, in a price range where home buyers wanting to use FHA financing tend to look. I had two decent comparable sales to use – but I noticed one sold to a buyer who used FHA. And that’s a huge flag that more research needs to be done in order to use that sale as an indicator of market values.

  • Taking Your Home Off The Market (July 10, 2008)

    Found in the recent search terms: Should I take my house off the market for a month?
    I don’t know.  But here’s the discussion that comes to mind:  Do you think the market is going to change that much in a month?  Real estate markets tend to move more like glaciers than like jets. 
    What will [...]

  • The Camera Phone House (October 20, 2008)

    I showed a home the other day that has been on the market – continuously – for 899 days.  Which begs the question: why hasn’t this home sold?
    Two big reasons.
    1) It’s overpriced for the condition of the home.  It’s a partial remodel, with a bad paint job, missing baseboards, some original vinyl, with a brand [...]

Equal Housing Opportunity Realtor
Clicky Web Analytics