re-listing

For a good chunk of 2013, the Manhattan Village townhome at 10 Sausalito Circle had a hard time selling.

And now? It's gone.

For most of its run on the market, 4+ months, this 3br/3ba, 1900 sq. ft. Plan 6 condo looked pretty much the part of an original 1980s creation. There had been some improvements (no more fluorescent kitchen lights, new granite counters, newer flooring), but the unit seemed to want more. And it seemed a bit dark.

Was there interest earlier this year? Yes. But they couldn't settle on a price that worked for buyer and seller.

The listing launched at $1.200M, then dropped gradually to $1.099M, where it was when it cancelled 3 weeks ago.

After that, the kitchen cabinets got a coat of white point – no more dark oak, now a more modern look.…

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It's no mystery why people would try to sell a home themselves in this market.

Looks easy, buyers are crawling over one another to grab every house available, so why pay agents?

They ran a brief experiment over at 1757 Voorhees (4br/3ba, 2450 sq. ft.) recently, and then gave up. It's now listed with a local agent.

To be clear, the sellers here tried first to list the property solo with a pledge to "cooperate," which is to say, to pay buyers' agents the full, standard 2.5% commission. Still, they wanted to save on the listing side, to maximize their net.

1757 Voorhees emerged on July 22 at $1.495M. They used a service to post it on the MLS, so they weren't lacking for exposure, ostensibly.

But now, just 2 weeks later, they're back on the market, re-listed…

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The story is one we keep writing over and over: Houses that couldn't sell before, have sold recently.

Does it always happen, though?

How about one of the most difficult listings from 2012? How will it fare now that it's back?

And how about its new price increase? Will that stand up?

We're talking here about 1701 Gates Ave. in East MB.

The listing fairly dares this market to prove that everything really is different in 2013. Approaching one year since it debuted, the listing has now increased in price by 13%.

In May 2012, 1701 Gates (4br/3ba, 3390 sq. ft.) launched at $1.598M.

No action through Summer. It went on "hold" in August.

In October, 1701 Gates returned $100K lighter at $1.498M.

The listing ran another 5 months like that, with no takers. It went on…

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This is a funny week with the upcoming 3-day weekend, in that sellers (and agents) seem not to want to put out new listings. Worry not, though, Spring (for real estate) is right around the corner. 

What we do see here and there now is the return of 2012 listings that didn't catch on. They always meant to sell, but took the holidays off.

Here's a recap of the newest returnees:

810 1st (5br/5ba, 4850 sq. ft.) is an 80s original on a big, flat, 9425 sq. ft. lot with some very nice ocean views – surprising, perhaps, for a house that's so close to Ardmore.

The issue here is that absolutely everything needs a 21st-century update. That takes vision and will take some cash. At the end, we see potential for a terrific house, but you've got to buy it at the right…