Something went terribly, terribly wrong

How does $166,500 of imagined profit degenrate into the reality of at least a $186,940 loss? Easy: You're a home seller who needs to unload your property, but it won't move. So you keep cutting the price.

27642 Daisyfield Drive, Laguna Niguel, Calif., 92677
Size: 5 beds, 4.5 baths, 3,336 sq ft (built in 2005)
MLS: S491643 (99 days on Redfin - join us as we celebrate the listing hitting the 100 days mark tomorrow!)
Asking price: $1,349,000
Asking price/ sq ft: $404
Purchase price: $1,455,000
Purchase date: 12/15/2005
ZipRealty price tracker: Price Reduced: 07/15/07 -- $1,725,000 to $1,675,000
Price Reduced: 07/27/07 -- $1,675,000 to $1,599,900
Price Reduced: 08/07/07 -- $1,599,900 to $1,599,000
Price Reduced: 08/30/07 -- $1,599,000 to $1,349,000
2006 property taxes: $14,768
HOA monthly dues: $155
Type: Single Family Residence
Style: Contemporary
From listing: NEED AN OFFER NOW PLEASE! DROPPED $376,000 for QUICK SELL! MUST SALE THIS WEEK PLEASE BRING IN AN OFFER. Most LUXURIOUS section of SJH gated community. Over $250,000.00 in UPGRADES. LESS THAN 2 YEAR YOUNG! Larger Backyard & Front Courtyard, Gourmet Kitchen. Custom Cabinet & paint, Crown Molding, Custom Wood Flooring and Much More! VERY MOTIVATED SELLER!
The sellers (or agent?) did a great job hiring the photographer. The pictures are well staged, and nicely photographed - they make an already appealing property stand out. Very good work. Compared to some of the dimly lit, off-center, out-of-focus photos we routinely run across in listings, these should be hanging in an art museum.

The photos may be great, but the listing is a mess. Not only are there some basic, glaring grammar mistakes (MUST SALE THIS WEEK... LESS THAN 2 YEAR YOUNG), but the exclamation points coupled with the verbiage of the description makes the sellers sound over-the-top desperate, instead of portraying them as simply motivated to deal (does it really need that "VERY MOTIVATED SELLER" tag at the end, after they already made it very clear that the sellers are motivated?). Think they're going to get many favorable offers out of this?

And the alternating use of all caps, title caps and lowercase in the Redfin listing gives me a headache.

As we mentioned above, the loss would now be $186,940 if factoring in a sale at this price and 6 percent in selling costs. So much for nearly two years of ownership.