“Nine…….times.”

Children of the ’80’s get it.

“Nine……times.”

Some of you already get the reference and others are thinking about it.

Let’s just say that you don’t need to take a day off to figure this one out, but the first person to post the reference in the comments wins my utmost respect and potential future friendship…

So how about twenty-two times?

Somewhere, Principal Rooney is impressed…

A long-time and loyal blog reader called me this week to discuss the short-term prospects of the real estate market and what he should do with his investment property, and before our call concluded, he said, “I have a great idea for a blog post for you.”

Oh, sure.  I’ve heard that one before.

People are always giving me ideas for blog posts, but despite their passion and best efforts, sometimes I just can’t write 3,000 words on a topic, or I’ve already covered their topic ad nausem, or it’s something I can’t write about for fear of receiving a RECO complaint.

But this suggestion, however, did not disappoint!

This suggestion, in fact, may have set an all-time record.

Regular readers have probably seen blog posts on this subject before: houses that are listed over-and-over again, often with different prices, pricing strategies, and listing agents.  Sometimes, a house will magically grow a fourth bedroom in between listings, or the sky over the house turns purple.

But today’s listing is an all-timer.  I don’t have an official “record book” for this, but I don’t recall a property being listed twenty-two times without an on-market sale.

I can’t post the address, for obvious reasons, but here is the MLS listing:

If you’re reading this on your phone, you probably can’t even see the whole image!  That’s how long this listing history is.

It all started nearly nine years ago, if you can believe it.

So at the risk of this getting repetitive, let me lay out all twenty-two listings and the actions (or inaction…) therein.  Trust me when I say that there’s a story here amid the slew of listings I’m about to present…

Listing #1:

April 25th, 2014.

First agent on the file.

$1,798,000.

89 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #2:

September 15th, 2014.

$1,749,000.

39 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #3:

October 24th, 2014.

$1,698,000.

83 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #4:

January 15th, 2015.

$1,698,000.

Sold for $1,610,000 after 18 days on market.

Scheduled to close on May 29th, 2015.

–

Listing #5:

After the previous sale failed to close.

July 21st, 2015.

$1,659,800.

27 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #6:

After a private sale, off market, with no price in Public Records.

Second agent on the file.

May 12th, 2017.

$2,988,000.

Reduced to $2,877,000.

49 days on market.

Terminated.

–

What happened here, in two years, that made this house go from unsellable to suddenly doubling in value?

–

Listing #7:

June 30th, 2017.

$2,677,000.

19 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #8:

July 19th, 2017.

$2,499,000; with an offer date.

Price raised to $2,675,000.

78 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #9:

October 7th, 2017.

$2,650,000.

13 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #10:

Third agent on the file.

October 24th, 2017.

$2,599,000.

16 days on market.

Suspended.

–

Listing #11:

May 16th, 2019.

Nearly two years after the previous listing!

$2,788,000.

Reduced to $2,599,000.

107 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #12:

September 3rd, 2019.

$2,598,000.

56 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #13:

Fourth agent on the file.

November 4th, 2019.

$2,498,000.

92 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #14:

February 4th, 2020.

$2,498,000.

61 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #15:

Fifth agent on the file.

May 20th, 2022.

Nearly two years after the previous listing!

Now marketed as “lot to build your dream home.”

$4,499,850.

Reduced to $2,250,850.

60 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Huh?  How did this property double in value?

Then why was it reduced to less than half?

Well, it was first offered as two lots, presumably after a severance was obtained, but there was no note in the listing.  Then, oddly, the listing was updated to show only one lot and plans to build a house.

The listing made zero sense.  It should have been terminated and re-entered as one lot.

–

Listing #16:

May 20th, 2022.

A “duplicate” listing along with the listing above.

$4,989,850.

Offering one lot with a severance.

Reduced to $4,499,850.

–

Listing #17:

July 19th, 2022.

$2,124,850.

Offering one “lot” but same address.

105 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #18:

July 19th, 2022.

$4,249,850.

Offering the entire property.

Another “duplicated” listing.

105 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #19:

November 1st, 2022

$1,999,850.

Offering one “lot,” again.

42 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #20:

November 1st, 2022.

$3,999,700.

Again, offering the entire property.

Again, a third instance of a duplicate listing.

43 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #21:

May 5th, 2023.

$3,795,000.

Offering the entire property for sale.

A new note in the listing: Two Lots For Sale Both Must Sell Before Severance Can Be Fulfilled.”  Calls into question the status of the severance.

36 days on market.

Terminated.

–

Listing #22:

Sixth agent on the file.

June 26th, 2023.

$2,990,000 – with an offer date.

Price raised to $3,450,000.

Now marketed as an executive home on a prestigious lot, rather than two approved severed lots, ready for development.

31 days on market.

Active listing.

–

Phew!

That was a lot to comb through.

But is it just me, or is this perhaps the most fascinating listing we’ve seen in a long time?

The current owner has listed the property for sale seventeen times over a period of six years!  And that’s after he or she purchased privately, off-market, from an already-burned seller who had listed the property four times and had one sale fail to close.

The back-and-forth with the property being marketed as an “executive home” versus “severed lots” is also quite interesting.  You can’t really have it both ways, can you?  Would somebody really value a house that’s so “great” it’s apparently ready to be demolished?  That doesn’t make much sense.

And how in the world did this property, presumably, double in value between July of 2015 and May of 2017?

Also, the market was red hot from January through April of 2017.  Why did the owner choose to list in mid-May of 2017 after the market dropped like a stone?  Was that deliberate or was that panic?

There are so many more questions we could ask here, but I’ll leave some room for observations from the readers.

Otherwise, Happy Friday, folks!