Starting Listing

a)hope and a prayer b) chutzpah c) be willing to settle for a whole lot less d) all of the above

totally makes sense - brooklyn gets 1% cooler each month.

The listing price is the first salvo in the negotiation to buy and sell a property. The listing price is never arbitrary if the seller and the broker do their homework and face reality.

The list price tells you the sellers' expectations. That's useful, but it may or may not have a close relationship to the ultimate sales price.

Brokers recommend a listing price, or a range of prices, to the seller by studying current listings, listings in contract, and recent sales data. Pricing is affected by property location, size, condition, and amenities, which means everything from is there a fireplace to how stiff the co-op board is. Upgrades are only one part of that. And all these factors interact with demand.

The seller/owner makes the final decision on the listing price, tells the broker what to list the property for. If the broker strongly disagrees she or he can decline the listing--and yes, that absolutely happens. Some For Sale By Owner properties are FSBOs because the seller can't find a broker who wants to spend the time and money on the place, given the seller's unrealistic expectations.

Karla Harby, VP, NYRS
Rutenberg Realty
kharby@crrnyc.com

Looks like it actually closed at 600K. The new asking isn't that interesting, probably just praying to recover the transaction costs. Why they are selling is probably more interesting/educational.

Its also possible the seller 'fell' for the trap of buying into the best broker's sales pitch package that happened to include the line: "your place is worth $700,000 and we are the best team to get it for you"

Its well known that many seller brokers feed on sellers emotions that they are very sensitive to the appraisal price disclosed to them by the pitching sales agent. You tell a seller what their place is really likely to sell for in todays market, and they dont like that number, you can kiss your chance at the exclusive goodbye. So, as a seller broker looking for a 6-month exclusive agreement, the plan is LIE, butter the seller up with a high appraisal, start there, and get a price cut 1-2 months later because the market has changed since they first provided the appraisal value.

swimming in the ocean of money that is the NYC real-estate broker commission pool, I would say most brokers LIE about something. And in my experience, kharby2, brokers I have dealt with and the word "study" or "work" do not go together. bottom of the barrel, most. Hopefully this market cycle acts as a laundry cycle for nyc brokers.

kharby2 - thanks for a thorough reply. Even by your definition, it still sounds as though at least part of the process is arbitrary, in as much as it's based on a seller's thinking. Not arbitrary in the strictest sense, but more like a game of poker than anything based on comps, research or logic.