It's not just new construction that can disappoint owners

532 North Street is a 1926 charmer that sold for $4.5 million in 2005. The purchasers made some necessary improvements and put it back up for sale in 2013, priced at $5.750 million. I could find no particular reason that might justify that price then, other than the fact that the listing agent is known (by me, at least) for her exuberant, aspirational pricing. Certainly the market didn’t see its value, and so it’s taken six long years and numerous price cuts to finally find a buyer at its latest price, $3.395. The original agent is long gone, and deservedly so.

It’s impossible to tell, of course, but my hunch is that this house would have sold long ago, and for a much higher price, had that first price not been so off-putting.