Response to unhappy seller · All Things Real Estate

Response to unhappy seller

I got a rather negative text from a seller this morning about the market and his condo. I completely understand his frustration so this response confirms his concerns, lets him know exactly what is going on in his complex, then hopefully demonstrates that I am working hard to get it sold even though we have not had any offers. Then ends with some optimism. And while he said he was firm on the price, I did throw out there the option of a rate buy down. Here is the response: I thought 2026 was going to be a strong year for real estate in Arizona. Interest rates were coming down, and sales activity was much stronger than it was in 2025.

Unfortunately, the war has created two challenges. First, interest rates have increased by nearly three-quarters of a point. Second, overall confidence that things are moving in the right direction has declined. The golf course redevelopment also seems to have dampened some of the enthusiasm from buyers looking for a winter vacation home. The signs throughout the area are not helping.

Regarding Kierland Greens, the number of units for sale has increased from 8 to 16 since January. The number of homes sold year-to-date is also down: 5 sales year-to-date in 2026, compared to 9 during the same period in 2025 and 8 in 2024.

So we are dealing with a few headwinds at the same time: broader economic uncertainty due to the war, increased competition, and lower sales activity that may be partly related to the golf course redevelopment.

I definitely do not think you have a bad condo. It has a lot of very nice updates and has been extremely well maintained. Feedback has been somewhat split. About half of the people love the warm colors, while the other half say they would prefer lighter colors.

Two one-bedroom units have sold this year: one for $505,000 and one for $562,000. The one that sold for $562,000 had lighter colors. You could always lower the price, but in a market like this, a rate buydown may go further if the goal is to increase buyer interest.

Regarding the marketing, I updated my report. Some platforms, including Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin, only report data from the past 30 days, so those numbers are probably understated by roughly four times. The confirmed number of social media views is just under 419,000, so I am confident we are now well over 420,000 views. That is a significant amount of exposure.

I have also held 25 open houses and had some very good conversations with buyers. In at least two cases, the men I spoke with said the condo was perfect and that they planned to make an offer. However, after speaking with their wives, they later said their wives wanted something larger and they were overruled.

If the war can be resolved and rates start coming back down, I believe lower rates should help bring more buyers back into the market.

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