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Bill Cuppy, with Pier Realty in Huntington Beach, has just said, “no.”

It’s a stance he said that has cost him the business of sellers who didn’t like his suggested listing price, and in swooped another agent in a practice known as “buying the listing.”

“A lot of times the seller doesn’t want to hear it, and they will pick somebody who will tell them a higher price,” he said.

The agent with whom the seller ends up will put the property on the market at the price the sellers want and then gradually get them to lower their price, thus “buying the listing.”

When the property hits the market overpriced it turns off would-be buyers, Cuppy said, referring to the “sour grapes theory.”

As this theory goes, a potential buyer who writes off a home as being out of his or her range will not reconsider that property.

“Once a buyer dismisses a house, they won’t go back,” Cuppy added.

In this market, “everybody needs to be priced within 3% to 5% of market value,” said Cuppy, a former appraiser who has been in real estate for more than 20 years.

Anyone who goes over 5% is likely to see their home sit, and even if they do find a buyer willing to pay a bit extra or their home, that sale is anything but assured.

Lenders, which are already reluctant to lend, are unlikely to approve a mortgage for an overpriced property.

“The final arbiter on price is not the seller or the buyer, it’s the appraiser,” Cuppy said.

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