The following article appeared at First Things, written by Carmel Richardson.
When I heard the price the retired man was asking for his home, a full $80,000 over online estimates of its value, I flinched. The market is hot in our small town, and the location was good, but was it that good? More importantly, would the bank appraise it so high? Just seven years ago, this seller had purchased the home for less than half the price he wanted for it in 2026.
My husband and I were in a spot familiar to many in our generation: trying to scrape together enough cash to buy a house from an older couple, who neither needed nor wanted the space, yet priced it extraordinarily high. Another retiree in our neighborhood recently listed his home, a three-bedroom house with a modest yard, at $100,000 over its estimated value. A third home in town has been relisted at least twice, as the retired woman selling it refuses to lower the price, despite knowing the home needs thousands of dollars in mold remediation and electrical updates. When we offered a number below her asking price, and above the home’s estimated value, she accused us of trying to fleece an older woman. It has since remained on the market for more than a hundred days, but she’s not in a hurry. She owns the home outright.
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West Port Experiment 