So, during our 2017 roller coaster I noticed a trend rarely seen in the market – but one that became very quickly commonplace. This new trend was to list a house at a fair market rate (remembering that concept was very fluid last year), and holding off on offers for a few days to a week then having the big offer day. Now this is not a new approach really, what evolved from this is what struck me as odd: when offer day came and went and the sellers weren’t happy with the offers received or more painfully didn’t get any offers at all, there would be a price change on the listing, and suddenly it was listed 10%-25% higher than where it didn’t sell in the past week, what some agent’s refer to as ‘the new negotiating price’. To me, these games further complicate the valuation of homes but alas they are the games that must be played – but it’s so hard to faithfully be a part of them. Yes, we have been guilty of following these market trends from time to time, a difficult market means you have to play all of your cards to make sure your clients reap the benefit of your cumulative experience. Our philosophy of properly priced and advertised to the right market stands strong, but these crazy times have sometimes called for extraordinary measures! What I can tell you, is if you are thinking of making an offer, make sure you check the listing history for recent price adjustments, it should give you some insight as to where the sellers are thinking price wise. mccarthomes.com