On the Peninsula, for the last few decades, we’ve been accustomed to seeing properties sell over list price. Sometimes, it’s just a few thousand, and sometimes, it could be a million dollars over list price. The reality is that list price has become just a marketing tool and it’s less relevant than it was previously. Some agents list the price intentionally low for two reasons: 1) more people look at the listing, visit the house, and make offers, and 2) it boosts the reputation of the firms that get $500,000 (for example) over list price, when actually the list price was irrelevant to the value of the home.
Setting the list price under your expected sale price is the norm on the Peninsula in order to create more interest and offers (which can lead to more aggressive counter offers). However, beware that a house going for way over list price may just be an intentional strategy to boost the firm’s reputation and make people believe that the market may be hotter than it actually is. I don’t recommend using or not using a firm that intentionally underprices the listing, I’m only suggesting to beware of gauging the market sentiment or a the ability of a firm based on how much over list price that homes are selling for.