Chitownproperty

The New York Times ran a great piece this weekend about the thought process that goes into setting a market price. The number are huge because they’re talking about New York, but whatever the market, an asking price isn’t so much a flat statement of how much the seller would like to get for their property. It’s a complex calculation of value, strategy,and pride:

The asking price of a property is rarely a straightforward reflection of comparable values. While comparables may be a starting point, the price at which a seller offers a property is often also based on wishful thinking, propaganda and ploy.

Buyers, in turn, parry by deconstructing the price. They aim not merely to assess a dwelling’s fair value but also to plumb a seller’s bottom line and vulnerabilities. How a price tracks with similar properties, how large and hasty any reduction is, and even how parsed or rounded a number is — all these are grist for concluding, rightly or not, whether a price is firm, desperate or a sign of painful dealings to come.