We are now in a Buyers Market. Yet, for some reason, Realtors are failing to educate their sellers about this fact. This failure, or the seller’s refusal to acknowledge that their properties may not be worth what they were this time last year, is resulting further in houses coming on the market at prices ridiculously high for the market, increasing days on market, and very low ball offers from educated buyers.

Then the sellers reject the offers out of hand, and the houses sit on the market even longer.

Statistics show that housing prices have fallen, and in fact, most statistics do not include houses priced under $450K. Of course, most houses fall under this limit. We have seen auctions now taking place where the highest bid is 25% less than the previous listing price.

As Realtors, we need to educate our seller clients. As Realtors, we also need to educate our buyers. Without this effort, we are seeing buyers lose the houses they want, with sellers sitting on them, sometimes empty after having moved on, for months. Sure, if you can afford to sit on your house and pay two mortgages for another 18 months, great, but most of us don’t want to do that. A certain realistic approach must be had.

Is your real estate agent educating you, or just humoring you? Which do you think will best serve your interest?