Prices, internet and houses?

Question

If a house is displayed on the internet at a certain price (which is 100% incorrect) does the seller have to honour the price...presumably as soon as they notice they will amend it....

Answer 1

Even if correct you don't have to sell at that price.

Things change, advertisers make mistakes. All kinds of things can happen but one thing remains the same. The purchase price is what is mutually agreed between the buyer and seller. Neither has to buy or sell at a price that is not agreeable to them.

It can bite you in another way, however. Your listing agreement with your realtor says you owe the commission if they bring you a buyer willing to pay the price and terms you've specified in your agreement. Whether or not you accept the offer is irrelevant. You still owe the commission because they've done what you've contracted with them to do.

In your case this doesn't apply because it just an advertising mistake. I'd not wait for the advertiser to notice it because, when a buyer sees a price and then it gets raised, no matter what the reasons, it has a psychological (negative) affect on the buyer. To illustrate this imagine the opposite. Suppose to respond to an ad and are told, I'm sorry, the price in the ad is incorrect. The real price is actually lower than that. You'd be elated. I'm sure you get the idea if the opposite happens. Whims and perceptions are important in real estate so get the problem corrected right away.

Answer 2

No.

The actual list price is set in the listing agreement by the seller, usually with the advice and recommendation of the listing agent. That's the listing document and (for a variety of uses) determines the listing price.

As another comment here notes, even a correct listing price is simply the start of negotiations. If you listed your home for $200,000 and received an offer of $200,000, you still don't have to sell it. Not at all. However, you might owe a commission to the listing agent. That depends on the listing agreement.

But the situation you describe is just the same as if a newspaper made a mistake in running a car ad and instead of showing the price as $30,000, it showed the price as $3,000. No obligation for the car dealer to honor an erroneous price made by someone else.

Answer 3

No.  A list price is considered in the law as an Offer to Negotiate.

Answer 4

No.  A seller does not have to honor the listing price, even if it IS correct.  A listing price is merely an asking price.  If one buyer offers full listing price and another offers a price higher than listing, the seller is free to accept the offer of choice, or NEITHER offer.

Answer 5

No, property rarely sells for exactly the asking price, it can go over or above.   Even a full priced offer does not have to be accepted.

Answer 6

Nope. The seller only has to accept what they want to accept.  

Answer 7

I don't think so. The price isn't set until you have signed documents from both parties. You must sign the buyer's agreement.