Over the last few weeks, a number of people have told me that, when it comes to their current home, they have a number in mind. They more or less said, "I've already spoken with my husband/wife about it and, if someone were to offer us $X, we would sell and move immediately."
What's fascinating about this is that it's a form of housing supply that generally doesn't exist anywhere right now. Sure, the people I was speaking with would sell and move for a price, but how does something like this actually happen? How do buyers find them?
I suppose it could happen through word of mouth. I now know their prices and so if someone I know were interested in such homes, I could tell them. It is a low probability, but it's still a possibility. Alternatively, someone (an agent or otherwise) might just show up on their doorstep and make them an offer. My dad actually sold his last home this way.
But again, how likely is this to happen? It doesn't seem scalable. And this is why Zillow used to have something called a "Make Me Move" listing. Rather than a traditional listing, it was a listing for, "I don't necessarily need to sell, but if you offered me $X, I would move." For whatever reason, though, Zillow no longer offers this service. Presumably, it's because it wasn't working. Hmm.
Here's how I'm thinking about it.
Today, most housing markets are binary. A home is either for sale or it's not. Sometimes enterprising people manage to secure an "off-market home", but generally speaking the market is binary. If a home isn't for sale, most people don't usually bother with it. Mostly because they can't easily find it.
