Which houses are most likely to sell at the biggest discounts from their list prices ?

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The folks at online brokerage Redfin looked at more than 2,900 house sales in Los Angeles County from April through June, and identified traits of homes that sold for the largest discount from the final asking price.
Prices came down most when:
1) the home was listed for more than 90 days
2) was a fixer-upper
3) were more likely to have been owned by the seller for 20 years or more or…
4) were owned for less than five years.

Redfin also found that sellers who have already cut their list prices often agree to more reductions to get a sale.
Most of the above are fairly obvious. Sellers who’ve owned a home for more than 20 years will likely make a solid profit even if they come a long way down from their original list price. Those who’ve had the home less than five years may be in mortgage trouble or flippers who need to sell quickly.
But one conclusion may surprise some: Redfin finds buyers won’t have much luck trying to low-ball foreclosed homes sold by banks. That’s because lenders these days are already offering foreclosed properties at deep discounts.
The entire study, which includes data for King County, Washington and Fairfax County, Virginia, can be seen at http://www.redifn.com/scientist.

-- Peter Y. Hong

Questions? Comments? Email: peter.hong@latimes.com