New house LA - questions? (to rent, mortgages, buying a house)

[Lido99]

Hi to all, my husband and I have been living in LA since March. We moved here from Australia and we're very happy here. We're buying a house and will spend 1M to 1.5M, hopefully in Pacific Palisades. We don't need advice on mortgages but do have a few questions. So far, every house we've looked at the Realtor selling the property has told us of a prospective offer on the property, in other words if we want it we'd better be quick. This is a trick we're used to in Australia - are we misinterpreting the same in the USA? We're also told houses are selling at their advertised price. Is this true? We haven't engaged a Realtor to help us yet as we like to look around at leisure rather than be shown around and we really like to be relaxed until we drill down on our preferences.

Thanks to anyone who answers. We don't need any advice on jobs or traffic etc. I know the traffic is crazy and I know to live close to where we work. We got that 100%

[DowntownVentura]

Hi Lido
Welcome to SoCal

There are areas that are selling well and there are some that are still slow. Try using Redfin . It seems to have the best mapping of an area and you can see the current listings as well as recently closed sales.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by Lido99

So far, every house we've looked at the Realtor selling the property has told us of a prospective offer on the property, in other words if we want it we'd better be quick. This is a trick we're used to in Australia - are we misinterpreting the same in the USA?

Nope, they play that game here as well. Salesmanship is universal, especially when a fat, juicy commish is at stake.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by Lido99

So far, every house we've looked at the Realtor selling the property has told us of a prospective offer on the property, in other words if we want it we'd better be quick. This is a trick we're used to in Australia - are we misinterpreting the same in the USA?

Same trick, different continent. I'd give it 9 chances out of 10 that you're being high pressured. There's no reason why you can't try a different Realtor and see if you like them better. (Only thing is, don't confuse who showed you what property, and don't go see the same property with two different Realtors.)

What I hear is that the more expensive properties ($1M and above) are moving a lot more slowly than less expensive properties ($300K-$400K). That's why I don't believe that every single property you've seen had an offer. And also, what's an offer? Are we discussing buyers who have included earnest money, or is this "Hm... $1M... Would you take $200K?" If every property you were showed had a real offer outstanding then I will be exceedingly surprised.

You should be warned (and this is just my personal non-expert opinion) that houses could go either way, either towards a housing recovery or towards further erosion in valuation, or even a disastrous crash. If you're very plush then you may not care about $1M here and $1M there, but it wouldn't be a bad time to rent one of those $1M estates either, then see how the market goes.

That said, I'm planning on buying an out-of-state property perhaps next summer (unless the current market situation changes) although I intend to live there for 20+ years so the market over the next decade doesn't concern me, not for my new property. I'm selling my current property (a hovel by your standards) in the next 3-4 months, and I'm somewhat worried possible difficulties selling it.

[sucrose]

Just be aware that even though it's much easier in the last few years to do the hunting on your own (Redfin, Zillow, and the internet in general) it's still the case that a listing agent will not take you seriously unless you are working with a realtor (or at least have someone on hand). Of course if a property is languishing on the market and you appear to be the only one interested or willing to pay an inflated price you'll get their time. But any property that's desirable and a good value will get offers and those must be submitted by an agent. Until you do that you are considered a window shopper.

[Lovehound]

It would be crazy to buy a house without a Realtor. And why not? The seller pays all the commissions, so it costs you nothing to have your own agent. A good Realtor will protect you from getting into a bad deal, and will understand your needs and narrow down the field to showing you only properties that meet your requirements, so as not to waste your time.

I think it's crazy to sell a house yourself too, but that's perhaps off-topic. (Note that seller commissions can be negotiated down from the usual 6%.)

[sll3454]

Take your time, find a house you like, and offer whatever you want. If the seller doesn't like your offer, they'll counter. Also, look at how long the houses have been on the market. What a coincidence that they all suddenly have offers as soon as you show interest!

[sean crawley]

hi LIDO
salesmanship tricks were all used to no rush no rush