Silly Games and Pompano

November surf fishing in Cocoa Beach, hoping for a pompano.

Below is the listing history of a waterfront home in Cocoa Beach.

07/18/08	$1,199,000
08/25/08	$1,189,000
08/28/08	$1,184,000
08/29/08	$1,179,000
09/02/08	$1,174,000
09/03/08	$1,169,000
09/05/08	$1,164,000
09/14/08	$1,159,000
09/16/08	$1,154,000
10/02/08	$1,149,000
10/07/08	$1,143,000
10/09/08	$1,139,000
10/10/08	$1,129,000
10/24/08	$1,124,000
10/25/08	$1,119,000
10/27/08	$1,114,900
10/29/08	$1,109,900
11/06/08	$1,100,000
11/07/08	$1,090,000
11/08/08	$1,080,000
11/09/08	$1,070,000
11/11/08	$1,050,000

I'm not sure what the strategy is here but apparently the seller believes that there is a buyer out there who will make a move when the price hits the magic number. With such teeny price drops the seller is obviously afraid of selling too low but must have some motivation in selling unless this is just a crazy MLS experiment. After 22 price drops in 4 months without a sale, two things are obvious; the price is still too high and the seller is not serious about selling. I always investigate the current and previous listing histories of target properties before making an offer in hopes of getting some indication of the seller's level of motivation. Much can be learned from these histories. My take-away from this particular history and the silly series of small price drops is that this seller is not realistic about the market and will probably be reluctant to accept well-researched comps and a fair offer. If you are trying to sell your property, I would advise researching recent sales and competing properties and to price your property at or just below what the comps tell you is fair market value. Don't waste your time playing games like this seller if you really want to sell.

"Never play cat and mouse games if you are a mouse."
_____Don Addis