Desperation is setting in, as Gary Watts, one of the leading real estate bulls issues his “Mid-Year Economic Outlook”, advising collusion between real estate agents to conceal the true state of the market. The behavior that he recommends is certainly unethical and may well be fraudulent:

B. Listing Agent Advice

1. Price Reductions: Please do not put a “price reduced” banner on your listings, and if you have one up, please take it down. It “falsely” advertises to the neighborhood that prices in the area are going down. What is more true is that sellers are lowering their expectations and becoming realistic.

   Plus: For we who show property, it does not instill confidence in our potential buyers.

2. Sold Signs: When the listing goes into escrow, please put an “in escrow” or “sold” banner on the sign! The days of a panicked buyer, desperately looking on their own for a home, are long gone. Once again, we are advertising to the neighborhood the wrong information.

   Plus: Imagine how potential buyers feel seeing all those for sale signs. Do you really think you’re helping them enter the market?

3. Signs: If you have a listing where there are other (or many) for sale signs nearby, I would recommend that you call the other agents and see how many of them will remove their signs from their listings. At the very worst, rotate your signs until one (or more) of the listings sell, then make sure it has a sold sign on it!