Is it wrong, or is it just marketing?

Fresh Pond asked me:

Rona,

... is it allowed and/or ethical for a broker to list a house at, say, $100. Then, after it doesn't sell, drop the price to $80 and mention in the comments that parking is available for purchase separately at $20.
It gives the appearance that the home price fell 20% despite staying the same. And is, in my opinion, misleading at best.
What are your thoughts?

Brokers can change the asking price of a house any time to any number, if the seller directs them to do so. That’s the general rule: brokers must follow lawful instruction. If the marketing gets the seller better price and terms, the broker is doing his/her job. Marketing cannot hide a problem or misrepresent a property. It also cannot be intentionally deceptive. The question on the table is, “Is a fake price drop ethical?” Are these examples intentionally deceptive?

Your example I’m calling Tactic A. Here are some more tactics I see every year:

Tactic B: raising the price due to improvements needed to sell a house.
A property is on the market for a while with no bites. The seller takes it off MLS. He pays to polish the floors and paint the walls. Then he re-lists it for an additional cost that is twice the cost of the spruce-up. Still no bites. Then there is a price reduction back to the original asking price. “Clean and bright! Price reduced!” Has the price really been reduced?
Another example: a house goes under agreement, but has a dying water heater, as well as being an "tired" and unpleasant house. The buyer walks away because the seller is not willing to make any accommodation for the problems. The seller then replaces the water heater refinishes the floors and puts in brighter light bulbs. He raises the asking price by twice the cost of the work he just did. The next ad says something like, “Back on the market! New water heater and other improvements.” Should the next buyer be paying for these changes?

Tactic C: increasing the cost of extras
A new condo complex has 20 units and 35 parking spaces. Each one has one space that comes with the unit. The early buyers can purchase a second spot for $10, but the later buyers have to pay $20, as the supply of extra spots dwindles. Is this a hidden price increase?
Another example: This is the most common game I see: the age-old ploy of excluding the washer, dryer and refrigerator just to attempt to negotiate them back in for $3000.

I look out for these kinds of things for my buyers. If you don’t have a good buyer’s agent, you need to keep track of properties carefully to avoid falling for these tricks.

So, my opinion is that this is marketing nonsense. You need to look out for it. It's not unethical, but is rather used-car-salesman-like.

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