Going Overboard

We all know a little something about excess. Whether it’s having that extra helping of potato salad at the family barbecue, or staying up an hour later than we should watching just one more episode of True Blood, excess is almost always something we could have refrained from – but chose not to.

There are many different ways in which we can go overboard, and a recent survey revealed that home pricing is one of them. An analysis by real estate marketplace Zillow found that just about everyone selling a home is overpricing it, especially those who made their purchase after the housing bubble burst.

If you bought a home in 2007 or later and are now trying to unload it, it’s likely that you’ve overpriced it by 14 percent. Apparently, people want to get what they paid for it and not what current market conditions dictate. Go figure.

But post-bubble buyers aren’t the only home sellers guilty of asking a little too much for their property. Sellers who purchased their homes before the meteoric rise in home values and those who bought during the bubble also overprice their homes – just not by as much. Those who bought before 2002 price their homes about 11.6 percent over market value, and those who bought between 2002 and 2006 price their homes 9.3 percent above market value.

While sellers may think their math is right on target, they need to break out the calculator and refigure their calculations. “Overpricing homes causes them to stagnate on the market and keeps inventory from decreasing – not a desirable outcome for either the sellers or the market as a whole,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. Yikes.

Speaking Of Undesirable Outcomes …

Did you hear the one about how most Texas school children have been suspended? Well, The Teller is here to tell you that it’s no joke.

A recent study – Breaking Schools’ Rules – found that 60 percent of all students in Texas have either been suspended or expelled at least once between grades seven and 12. Talk about going overboard.

This study is especially important because it shows us who this is happening to most (African-American students and those with educational disabilities) and what happens to these kids once they’ve received this sort of disciplinary action. More often than not, the results are more of the same discipline, ending up in juvenile-justice facilities or programs, repeating a grade and not graduating from high school. Do you think these draconian methods are effective? The Teller is giving it a big thumbs down.