Who Is Keeping Prices High?
Aloha from the vivid green slopes of the Kohala Mountains! Everyone knows that Hawaii just can’t be duplicated when it comes to natural beauty and perfect weather. That being the case, Waimea has to be one of the brightest jewels in the crown. We are a very small town full of wonderful people who actually revel in being able to spend as many of their years as possible in this sparkling, breezy paradise.
The Paniolo cowboys are now riding through knee deep grass, pulling their hats down as they turn into the wind that rustles flannel collars and brings bright smiles to their sun burnished faces. This is the season of separation out on the ranches, as the large calves are moved away from their mothers to the high pastures, where they crowd together for a night or two before their hunger sends them out into the hills in small bands. The nights are now filled with the distant cries of their mothers calling. They seem to be saying “Be safe. Be good. Be well.” as their children move away beneath the broad canopy of stars.
Of course all of this naturally segues to the subject of real estate values … as my kids would say “Not!”
Well, the subject matter of this little piece arose at a recent fund-raiser as I listened in with one ear to a conversation some ladies were having as the crowd milled about, waiting to be seated. One of these gals caught my attention when she said ” … and the real estate agents are keeping prices so high!” This was something I didn’t know was going on …
Once the work week rolled around I asked a number of real estate friends if it could be true that knowingly or even unknowingly the Realtors were keeping prices up. Let me paraphrase a typical response:
“We are trying to get prices DOWN, Stupid Head!”
So who on earth is keeping prices up so high, then? Well, um, I don’t think it is the Buyer, and we know it isn’t the real estate agent, so it must be the Seller. Sellers are keeping prices up while values (the actual amount the property is worth) are down.
You, the Buyers, are responsible for the actual value of any given property. You don’t have anything to do with the price, but whatever you are willing to spend for the property is the value of that property that day. The Seller may accept that value or not, but the value doesn’t change until some other Buyer is willing to pay more.
At our Exclusive Buyers Agency we don’t pay much attention to prices, but we track values very closely. If we see a property where the price is much higher than the value we are going to tell you about that property in spite of the silly price.
Just because the Seller may be unrealistic doesn’t mean that you need to be.
If you’d like to respond to this little ditty, please do so on line below, so others can enjoy your wisdom, humor or point of view.
Please contact us … you will be glad you did!
Imua,
Bill Jardine
Filed under: Updates
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