Selling Your Own Listings

Buyer's Market Phenomenon:
More "Dual Agency" Deals?

I don't have any hard data, but at least anecdotally, it seems like the number of homes being sold by the listing agent -- that is, they represent the Buyer as well as the Seller -- is on the rise.

(One of the quirks of real estate is that the agent representing the Buyer is called the "selling agent"; when one agent represents both parties, it's called "single agent dual agency").

It further seems like that phenomenon is happening more in the upper brackets.

Assuming I'm right about that, what's the explanation?

"Forlorn Listings"

Here's my shot:

When a home first comes on the market -- especially if it's a a "hot property" that's in great condition, priced well, etc. -- Buyers' agents practically line up to get their clients in the door.

Six months or twelve months later . . . not so much.

Showings drop to a trickle, if that. (Showings are when Buyer's agents take their clients through a home privately.)

Often times, the only agent driving any traffic to the home is the listing agent, via open houses.

As a result, the odds of the listing agent also finding the Buyer (or vice versa) go up significantly.

Upper Bracket Phenomenon?

So, which homes are sitting on the market the longest?

Not the entry-level homes, roughly defined as under $200k; those have been selling briskly all year.

Rather, the homes with the longest projected market time now are the most expensive homes. According to MLS recently, there is now a three year supply of $1-million plus homes on the market in the Twin Cities.

With all that competition and scarce Buyers, a Realtor who wants to sell such a home had better be prepared to do it themselves.