Real Talk!

This all started as one of my usual “number crunching” exercises and then... well... things got interesting.

First off, I did a search on our data system: sold residential properties, search dates from Jan 1, 2011 to April 24, 2011. The search came back some 95 properties.

& so began my research.

It’s no wonder that MLS data is skewed. If you just looked at the results of the search, the statistics look so very good...

but if you look below the surface, you get the real story.

Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing if the original price shown had been the result of price drops during the term listing- that’s not recorded by our system... and sometimes, some companies don't list the expiry date...

& although it is hard to say what the information tells us... I’ll lay what I can out as best as I can and give you my impressions...

I do not intend to make any inference with regard to the Companies or sales representatives involved... I am simply looking at what statistics can suggest...

In order to make things comfortable, I will only provide the data for a few of the properties each day for the next little while. That will be easier on the reader... and I won't have to come up with new ideas for my blog for a while... so, it's a win-win... and that's the way I like things!

(please note: I am going to label listings and sales with company X or D or whatever... they don't stand for any particular brokerage, this is simply to alert the reader to changes in company representation)

Listing #1: a single family home on about 31 acres

Listed: January 14, 2011 with Company A Sold: April 9, 2011 asking $159,900 sold by Company A for $140,000

looks like it took about 3 months to sell... and went for about 87.5% of asking price... but

The rest of the story: listed July 29/04 and expired Oct 31/04 $164,900 with Company X, listed June 13/05 for $159,000 and sold Oct 14/2005 for $150,000 with Company X, listed Feb 12/07 and expired Oct 12/07 $189,900 with Realtor Y, listed Feb 8/08 with Company L at $199,900 and cancelled, listed Jan 7/10 and expired Jan 30/10 $195,000 with Realtor A.

So... it had been purchased in 2005 for $150,000 after being on the market for about a year and a half.... then, it sold again, in 2011 for $140,000 and it had been exposed to market in ’07,’08 and then more recently in January ’10. Note: The listing in 2010 mentions that all offers should be conditional on a mutual release from a previous offer. Ultimately, the market value dropped $10,000 between 2005 and 2011... and it really took longer than 3 months to accomplish the sale

Listing #2: an alternative style single family home on 100 acres (being sold by financial institution)

Listed Jan 20/11 for $197,900 Sold Feb 26/11 for $183,000 “as is” by Company C

Appears to have sold in just over a month for a bit more than 92% of asking price.

The rest of the story: listed 3 Nov 2000 for $139,900 and cancelled by Company D, listed 15 May 2001 at $139,900 and sold 17 October 2001 for $120,000 by Company D. Listed 29 August 2006 for $284,900 expired, listed August 13, 2007 with an out-of-town Company at $299,000 and expired. Note: the property in 2011 was in serious disrepair, possibly a prior grow-op situation. One would think that there had been some major work done between October 2001 and 2006, but there wasn't. The lenders were out-of-town... and there was something odd going on.

Listing #3: a single family home on 126 acres

Listed 19 August 2010 with Company A for $239,000 and sold Feb 17, 2011 for $220,000 by Company A.

Seems to have been on the market about 6 months and sold for 92% of asking price. In this case, it would appear that the property was listed at an appropriate price in order to attract a sale within 6 months.

The rest of the story: This property was listed May 28, 2004 by Company E for $169,900 and sold May 26, 2004 for $161,000. Between sales, there was some serious renovation/redecoration including a new kitchen. The value increase represents about 35% over 7 years, less whatever was paid for that new kitchen, etc.... so... ummmm... whatever.

Listing #4: a single family home on 100 acres

Listed March 22, 2011 with Company A for $269,900 and sold April 5, 2011 for $253,000 by a Company with another nearby board.

Listed for just a couple of weeks, this property sold for almost 94% of asking price.

The rest of the story: This property was also listed 13 April 2010 with Company A for $297,700 and expired. It ultimately sold a year later for 84% of this original asking price.

Listing #5: Vacant Waterfront Lot 14.47 acres with 840’ of shoreline and boat access

Listed: 27, Sept 2010 for $69,900 with Company B and sold 19 April 2011 for $66,000 by Company B.

7 months to sell for 94% of asking price....

The rest of the story: This one is very confusing.... There was a 7.49 acre lot with 1400 ft of shoreline and seasonal access- listed with the same tax roll # and it was listed May 4, 2004 for $119,900 and sold June 21, 2004 for $106,500 (not with Company B)... so seven years later the property is twice the size but was listed for almost half the money? Something is not right. There would need to be further investigation in order to really understand this transaction.

Listing #6: A waterfront cottage/home on nearly an acre

Listed April 2, 2011 for $280,000 with Company X and sold April 16, 2011 for $263,500 by a Company with a nearby board.

Two weeks to sell... wow... and they got about 94% of asking price.

The rest of the story: listed July 7, 2008 for $309,000 with Company A and expired, listed June 14, 2010 for $288,000 and expired with Company X. So actually, the property took a lot longer to sell... and went for about 91% of their original asking price.

Listing #7: 300 Acres with Bungalow

Listed 22 Feb 11 $289,000 by Company B and sold 22 Feb 11 for $245,000 by Company B

WOWZER... at first glance, it appears that this property sold the same day it was listed for nearly 85% of the asking price.

The rest of the story: listed 4 August 2008 as 248 acres for $219,000 with Company B expired, listed 15 January 2009 as 248 acres for $199,900 and sold 09 April 2009 for $189,000 with Company B. Listed 13 January 11 as 300 acres at $289,000 with Company B then withdrawn. HUH? Looks like this property was exposed to the market for a lot longer than a day... I guess that gave it time to grow. So, ya, we would really need to do more investigation to understand this transaction. You can hardly go by the current sale alone.

Listing #8: Waterfront cottage with seasonal access

Listed 17 Jan 2011 for $379,900 with Company D and sold 11 April 2011 by an out of area Company for $330,000

3 months to sell... and almost 87% of asking price....

The rest of the story: was listed April 28, 2010 for $399,900 with an out of area Company and expired
(possibly the Company that ultimately sold the property.) Still, it took closer to 9 months for this property to sell and it went for 82.5% of the original asking price.

Listing #9: Waterfront home or cottage on 2 acres

Listed 8 Jan 2011 by Company D for $449,900 and sold 13 April 2011 by Company E for $420,000

appears to be about 3 months to sell and 93% of asking price.

The rest of the story: Listed March 23/10 at $517,900 with a Company from a nearby board and expired. Listed June 24, 2010 for $487,500 by same Company and expired... it's a shame that they didn't give that Company the larger price reduction. The property ultimately took 14 months to sell and went for 81% of the original asking price.