To me it looks like they did not price their house correctly the first time.

To me it looks like there is probably not alot of wiggle room(negotiation)on the price they want now, because in their eyes, they have already come down from their(unrealistic) price already.

However, it also says that they are motivated. Unlike the seller that stays at the same stagnant price for years, because they really do not need to sell.

To me it looks like they have an incompetent agent who didn't know how to use comps and price it correctly to begin with. Or they are FSBO and flailing, perhaps.

The buyers that 'turned the page' at $199,900 are not likely to be back.

I think it would signal something wrong, but not exactly sure what. It could be priced wrong, but also I might start to think there was something wrong with the house that was discovered during the selling process or inspection.

It could also be an agent that jumped the gun putting the listing up, and the seller says "no, we wanted it at $189K."

At best, the sellers and agent look disorganized. At worst they look desperate and/or clueless.

BarbCollins, this sounds like a recent short-sale in our row! Sellers got slammed on Quest/polybutylene plumbing during a potential VA inspection. Three letter-to-commit Buyers walked in as many days. Ouch!!!

Is it just price dropping or is there something else in the listing like "as is for Seller's convenience" or other verbiage? Curiosity is my middle name ;-)

I actually know the sellers and the house, and I already thought it was priced to high (did not want to sway the responses here). It is listed as a short sale and a fixer upper.

I just don't understand that pricing strategy of price it high and bump it down every week or two (or in this case every day or two). I watch the MLS in the area and see this frequently. As a buyer I would just wait a few months until they are done playing around with the price.

I will be surprised if it goes for more that $140-$150

"I just don't understand that pricing strategy of price it high and bump it down every week or two (or in this case every day or two). "

You might catch a sucker.

Those price reductions are so quick, it's just strange. I can't imagine this being the case, but I wonder if the agent (or their assistant) doesn't know how to list things correctly. I mean, it has the look of someone correcting a typo, not someone with a plan.

Locally, I've seen at least one local house have odd price jumps and it seemed to be an estate sale. In that case, I assume it was heirs wrangling over the price.

It's an experience realtor. She currently has over 30 Active listings with about 1/3 Under Contract.

I once noticed a realtor who would change the price on a property every day by $100.00. Down then back up, down then back up. I figured he was doing that so everyone would get an alert about the price change. I am thinking that may be in her plans too. Here's is another of her listings (this one is not sold yet either)

Date Price % Change Days at Price

8/1/2012 $195,000 8
8/9/2012 $185,000 -5.1% 4
8/13/2012 $175,000 -5.4% 7
8/21/2012 $165,000 -5.7% 4
8/25/2012 $160,000 -3.0% 1
8/27/2012 $159,900 -0.1% 0

Ok, but here is a question.... Doesn't the seller have to sign off on these price changes? I would be irritated if my realtor came back to me the next day with another change form.

Yes, the seller signs off, but maybe it is the seller requesting changes.

There's a method in the madness: every time a price change is made, the local MLS updates the info on a daily changes list. Hence, the property is always in the forefront and hopefully noticed by all the realtors. Also, the rapid price drops imply a false sense of urgency on the seller's part, when, in fact, it is only a marketing ploy to generate interest. Quite premeditated and cagy.

Spoke with owner today. Said the realtor told them she was going to drop if 5K every week until it sells.

Of course.... the bank has to agree to the sale price.

Update:

After these price changes:
Date Price % Change Days at Price
8/21/2012 $199,900 4
8/25/2012 $189,900 -5.0% 1
8/27/2012 $184,900 -2.6% 4
9/1/2012 $179,900 -2.7% 3
9/4/2012 $174,900 -2.8% 2
9/6/2012 $169,900 -2.9% 2
9/9/2012 $164,900 -2.9% 2

They got a contract last night. I asked her if they got the got their asking price, and she shook her head and said "oh no".

Personally I don't like these games. I tell our realtors to price the house at what they think it will sell for. I don't want to spend weeks, or months stressing about price.