Why sellers who push high prices are asking for it

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CAROL LOLLIS

This house at 88 Sylvester Road in Northampton sold Jan. 12 for $585,000, $35,000 above its original asking price.

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CAROL LOLLIS

This house at 310 Wilson Road in Northampton remains on the market after being listed at $699,000. The price has since fallen to $575,000.

NORTHAMPTON - This is a tale of two houses. They are only two miles from each other, but light years apart in the real estate market's response to them.

The first is at 310 Old Wilson Road, just off Florence Road. It's a 10-room colonial built on a hillside in 2004, and it has 3,600 square feet of living space. It has many luxurious touches: two marble fireplaces, cherry cabinets, skylights, hot tub, expensive stonework. It abuts 40 acres of conservation land. Its asking price was $699,000.

The second house, at 88 Sylvester Road, is also very nice, though smaller at 2,500 square feet. Built in 1993, it comes with 10 acres and has a high level of privacy. It includes a studio, 9-foot ceilings, fireplace, screened gazebo and gardens, but no master bedroom suite. The asking price was $550,000.

The first house has been on the market for more than a year, and at least five potential buyers have taken a pass on it. Its price has dropped to $575,000.

The second house sold on Jan. 12 for $585,000. After less than two weeks on the market, it had attracted interest from buyers from New York, Virginia, California and England, and received three offers. The buyers were a couple from Virginia whose children and grandchildren live in the area.

So how does it happen that one house drops its price by 18 percent, and remains unsold, while another sells quickly for 6 percent above its asking price?

David Murphy, the first Realtor to list the Old Wilson Road house, said the owner insisted on a $699,000 price even though he recommended against it.

Timing important

The best time to sell a house is just after it comes on the market, and if its price is too high, buyers will notice, he said.

"Owners are inclined to say, 'Let me try my price,' but buyers who are ready to buy have seen everything else," he said. "Buyers are active in the market and sellers are not."

Larry Miller of the Jones Group showed the house to a potential buyer. He estimated the cost of the stonework at $90,000 to the seller, but said few buyers will value it that highly.

"The $700,000 price range is skinny unless you have a house with no mistakes," Miller said. "My people wanted a bigger garage. That house was overpriced, but it's a good value at the price it's at now."

Lisa Palumbo of Coldwell Banker is the current Realtor who's looking for a buyer for the Old Wilson Road property.

"I can't pinpoint the reason it hasn't sold," she said. "Some people said it was too private, and others said it may not be private enough." One potential buyer pulled out after losing a lot of money in the stock market collapse in October, while another had a truck that didn't quite fit in the garage, she said.

The second house "has a certain character," said Miller. "It's a house you can't find over again. The one on Old Wilson Road, in some variety you can find it over and over."

In addition, Miller liked the privacy, rural feeling, parking space and front yard of the house on Sylvester Road, he said.

Nancy Merritt of the Delap agency also raved about the house's privacy, its long driveway, its stucco siding, its office over the garage. "It's appealing to people who work at home," she said.

Primacy of location

Dennis Delap said that despite a decline in the average sale price in Northampton, other houses have attracted multiple buyers recently, sometimes bidding up the sale price. He cited houses at 186 Federal St. and 86 Island Road.

"Home location has become more important since 2006," he said. "Buyers assume they may be there awhile, and they're more particular about the condition and character."

Nick Grabbe can be reached at ngrabbe@gazettenet.com.