Asking a Realtor why a property is sold

[Sydney Tiffany]

Is it appropiete to ask the selling agent why a particular property is not selling? The reason I ask is because I have found a home in my perspective market and after analysis is seems like a promising property for a long term rental. I just cant figure out why it has been sitting on Zillow for 50+ days. 

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Sydney Tiffany Zillow is the bane of the real estate business.  I have seen them take one of my listings (Condo, Unit 1) and combine it with another that had not been on the market for many years (same condo, Unit 2) and create a whole new listing that has never existed.  

I found out when I got an irate phone call accusing me of stealing the photos of unit 2 for my listing!

It varies by market, but around here, Zillow's own claim for the accuracy of their "Zestimates" is awful.  It's something like within 10% of the market value 80% of the time.  With an average sale price around $550,000, their error is MORE than $55,000 20% of the time.

As far as why a unit isn't selling, as often as not, agents don't know the exact reason.

To some extent, it's always the price.  Drop the price to $1.00 it will sell in seconds.  Raise it to $10M it won't sell.  There's a price somewhere in the middle that will cause it to sell.

But there are other reasons.  It might be the worst house in the best neighborhood.  It might need too much work for a retail buyer.  These things can be compensated for with a price reduction.  It also might be that rising interest rates are slowing down the market as it seems to be here.

That said, 50+ days on market might not be unusual in a market where similar homes sell after 75 days.

Find yourself a good buyer's agent and they can help you to figure it out.

PS - the home sold in March, 2016.  The photo - now removed by Zillow - was from November 2016.