Why do you think sellers keep their houses on the market forever, and never adjust the price?

I dont understand why sellers do this. They put their home on at much too high of a price and it just sits. They never adjust the price, leave the house on forever and it gets stale. Do they think someone is going to magically appear out of nowhere on day 150 to buy their home? Odds are slim. Do they not really have to sell or want to sell, that they just figure if someone gives them what they want, then great?

Can anyone provide me insight as to why this happens? And dont their realtors tell them their house is overpriced and just getting stale?

Re: Why do you think sellers keep their houses on the market forever, and never adjust the price?

I would guess it's because they have an emotional attachment to the house and feel as if it really is worth that amount of money.. or maybe they are well off and don't need the money from the sale of that house to purchase another so they will let it sit on the market until they get what they're asking.. orrrrrr they don't need to move for a good amount of time so they'll just wait for a buyer willing to pay what they want.

lol - those are my theories. i know what you're talking about. very frustrating, especially in todays market.

Re: Why do you think sellers keep their houses on the market forever, and never adjust the price?

Re: Why do you think sellers keep their houses on the market forever, and never adjust the price?

I agree with those reasons. Also:

1. Lack of equity in the home: Today, a lot of sellers have negative equity in their home, or very little equity. They want to maximize what their proceeds, or sometimes they are in a distressed situation and NEED to get a certain amount to avoid a short sale situation. So even though their list price doesn't line up with current market reality, they cling to the hope that they can sell their house for their price.

2. Testing the market: I see this a lot, especially with older sellers in upscale areas. In certain neighborhoods, people regularly put their homes on the market to see if it will sell for their price. If they got their price, I think they would sell, but they have no real need to sell.

3. Misconception about "leaving room to negotiate": When I discuss price with sellers, I often hear people say they want to price their home too high because they need to "leave room for negotiation." So if they want to sell for $400K, they will want to price at $450K, thinking that buyers will make lower offers that can then be negotiated. But the truth is, they are better off pricing their home in the low $400s and holding firm to that price than overpricing it and expect to negotiate down to reality. If nobody comes to look at the house because it is overpriced, then nobody makes and offer, and there is nothing to negotiate. End of story!

As far as the realtors role -- I am sure that many of the realtors who have overpriced listings have tried to get the sellers to drop their price. After all, it's in the realtor's interest to sell the listiing, for several reasons. But all they can do is advise the seller; the seller is the ultimate decision maker.

As a realtor, you really need to gauge a sellers' motivation at the outset and decide whether you want to take an overpriced listing. Personally, I will take a somewhat overpriced listing AFTER I discuss with the seller that he or she is pricing it against my advice and AFTER the seller agrees to drop the price on a regular basis if we get no activity. If I don't get the sense that the seller will be reasonable (or if they want to grossly overprice the listing), I could not take the listing. It would be a waste of the seller's time, my time, and my company's resources.

Re: Why do you think sellers keep their houses on the market forever, and never adjust the price?

I wonder if I know the house? We have friends divorcing that are overpriced and not budging. I think the wife is emotionally attached and husband doesn't want it to sell so he can buy her out

Re: Why do you think sellers keep their houses on the market forever, and never adjust the price?

When we sold my moms house, I thought we priced it very fair so I would not budge on the price. We listed it over the winter holidays so it was a slow start with people coming to see it. The realtor suggested lowering the price after a month and we said NO WAY. At the time my brother was living in the finished basement (rent free) and the house had no mortgage on it. All we had to do was keep up with the taxes/bills which would have been less than my brother paying rent somewhere. So for us it made sense to keep the house until we got what we wanted for it. We didn't HAVE to sell. If we got an offer of what we wanted then great! If not, then we keep the house. Ended up accepting an offer like a week after the realtor suggested lowering price.. thank god we didn't lower it.

I know of another where the people would move OOS only f they got that higher price. if not they would stay... just waiting for that magic number.

Re: Why do you think sellers keep their houses on the market forever, and never adjust the price?

Just wanted to add too that we saw a couple of houses that just DID NOT MOVE on the market and there was no price adjustment- it was because of a nasty divorce where one party did not want to sell and it was caught up in legal battles

Re: Why do you think sellers keep their houses on the market forever, and never adjust the price?

I think because a lot of people owe more than what it is worth so its a tough pill to swallow to take a HUGE loss...