When searching for a property online, it is common to encounter different specific terminologies used by real estate agents. Looking at price lists, you have probably often met the term “POA”. But what does POA mean regarding the real estate industry?
What does POA mean?
POA stands for Price on Application, an acronym used instead of a numeric price on listings of houses for sales. The owner or agent feels more comfortable with keeping the price secret and private, so that it is necessary to contact them to get pricing information. In the real estate industry, some listings are enumerated on demand for privacy reasons and to discourage one-time buyers.
As a rule, the use of POA can be mainly related to two reasons: the homes have a high price tag or unique characteristics. Sometimes, the owner may want to use POA in order to hide the actual price from their families, neighbors or friends. Moreover, making prices private could be an attempt to prevent potential buyers to check eventual down warding trends and to wait for price decreases before submitting an offer.
However, it is possible to get an approximate cost of a house on property online portals – without contacting the estate agent. Indeed, even if the price is concealed by POA, you can check out the prices of the other houses ranked above and below it in order to get a rough idea of the costs. Nevertheless, real estate agents try to place the property closer to the top of the page, entering the private price as lower than the actual one.
Pros and cons
Using the POA voice has its pros and cons for both parties. The mistery of POA could increase people’s curiosity and interest, giving the property an aura of exclusivity.
The Price on Application leaves to the sellers the freedom to propose customized prices for each potential buyer; so that they can change the property’s price based on the people in front of them, valuing also how much they can afford.
After being contacted by a potential buyer, the seller has a great chance to persuade him and offer his product, extolling its best features. Furthermore, once an initial request has been made, the potential buyer is more likely to proceed with the same seller than to seek elsewhere.
On the other side, a property marked “POA” can have an unpleasant effect which could decrease the
requests. Indeed, potential buyers can perceive it as overpriced, discouraging their willingness to request information when they cannot afford staggering price tag. Moreover, even though the usage of Price on Application is quite popular, it is considered outdated according to many property buyers.
Another aspect that discourages buyers is the time they should spent calling the seller or agent to ask information about the price. To work around this problem, the seller is advised to give as much information about the property as possible to increase the likelihood of being contacted by a buyer.
In conclusion, it is possible to affirm that using POA have both advantages and disadvantages for sellers and real estate agents, since it can be attractive for curious potential buyers, but it can also discourage some others.
