When I see list prices like $428,031 two things come to mind.
(A) What game is the homeowner or realtor playing? and
(B) What is wrong with this house that it's unworthy of a staid and direct price?
Consumer science may prove me wrong, but I believe that attempting to attract Home Buyers' attention with an odd-ball price is a bad idea.
By odd-ball, I'm referring to a price which has ending digits anything other than a zero or a nine. I'd like to say that any house price with a final digit other than a zero is absurd; however, since just about every consumer product is priced to 999 or 99, we're culturally saturated to view this as ordinary and expected.
Respect the gravity of the process and the need for transparency on both sides of the transaction. When homeowners and Realtors try to get cute and sassy with price, it gets the whole process off to a bad start. Everyone is nervous about paying too much or selling for too little, and one way to assuage this anxiety is to promote an aura of directness and transparency. A goofy house-price does not nothing to promote these essential goals.
A list price with a crooked dollar amount is a distraction from the vital interest at hand; namely, is the price either: cheap, fair, or too high. Obfuscating this inevitable, qualitative, decision-making prices with a goofy number is, to me, indicative of a lack of respect for the gravity of the process, as well as just bad manners. Home sellers - and their agents, -should present their product forthrightly and in a manner that fosters transparency and inspires sober valuation.
