"Recently, we went to look at a $1.6M tear down on the Westside with a lot of great neighborhood attributes. Ten days after listing and after receiving offers, the price was raised around $400k and it still sits for sale 4 weeks later."

lils at VREAA 24 April 2011 at 10:42 am- “Recently, we went to look at a 1.6m tear down on the Westside with a lot of great neighborhood attributes – across from a park, etc. 10 days after listing and after receiving offers, the price was raised around 400k (!) and it sits for sale 4 weeks later. This has been happening with increasing frequency all over the Westside and in West Van, where properties are listed with no intention of selling, but only to determine their market value plus profit. At the other realtors’ expense of preparing offers and having clients genuinely interested in buying a home or land, the selling realtor sits back and lets the market tell them what it’s worth. They make only a marginal commission for raising the price, so what is the incentive? If you were an offshore seller, and an agent came back with 33% over list price, you’d be pretty happy. You might even financially reward them for their incredible abilities above and beyond the agreed (and legal) commission. This is an entirely plausible marketing tactic aimed at offshore sellers and buyers who are not well versed in the market. “Here, I made you an amazing profit” only to turn around to similar clients and say “Look here, what a deal”.