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Multiple offers on certain properties and slow sales are 2 completely different things.
You have had non-Realtors on this thread confirming there are indeed many multiple offer situations going on right now. That you refuse to believe it is another issue.
Yes and I'm a non-Realtor who can confirm multiple properties where the listing agent pulled the "there are multiple offers over asking" card, and yet the property continued to sit on the market for months after this, or was subsequently delisted. I'd suspect that 9/10 times such a statement is made, it's a ploy and a BOLD faced lie (apologies for the misspelling in my original post; I'd correct it via edit if I could LOL) from an unscrupulous agent/realtor. We all like to bash stereotyping, but there's often very good reason for such generalizations.
I'm sure there are cases of suckers buying into it and actually bidding, and such statements leading to bidding wars/escalation clauses etc., but that doesn't mean there were ever any bids to begin with.
All I know is that in Seattle, we had proof of multiple offers (at least two, usually 3-4 but I don't have proof of those because usually they were not good enough to warrant attention) and all were at or above asking price, with escalators.
In the house that we bought in February and are currently living in now, we saw the competing offer with our own eyes--this is required when you have an escalator clause, because the listing agent has to include a copy of the entire Purchase & Sale Agreement with their counteroffer to us.
I know it has been poo-poohed in other places (especially seattlebubble.com) but honestly, every time we went to an open house with high foot traffic, there were bound to be multiple offers within 24-48 hours of the open house. To my knowledge, these patterns have not slowed, due to the lack of inventory in the $400-$500K range in desirable neighborhoods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Narfcake
Precisely, which is why multiple offers could indeed be true. Fact of the matter is that it'll still end up going at market price, but with an artificially lower listing price, they have successfully lured many more offers.
FWIW, one property I was going to submit an offer on was listed at $249k. When my agent called on the LA, his reply was that he's got 14 offers already, 6 of them all-cash, and if it's not over $300k, don't even bother. Comps were at $290-310k at that time.
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Originally Posted by S&AMOM
Well we found a house that was just listed last night and while we at our showing there were people that came while we were there, then later at our second look there were people leaving and coming. We made an offer and they have three other offers!! We are going to lose it because we gave our very best offer and it's not good enough apparently. It sucks. Definitiely not a buyer's market here (at least in our price range.)
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Originally Posted by sheenie2000
WRONG!
I bid on 4 properties. I lost 3 of them. One I bid OVER asking and lost it.
Guess what, the properties sold and I could verify it via public record. The records state the owners' names. So the multiple offers ARE real.
The 4th property we bid on, there were 4 offers on the table after the home was on the market for 2 days.
I didn't believe it either the first time we bid. I thought they were lying as the house had been on the market for 6 months and all of a sudden another offer came in at the same time. We bid a little low and lost the house.
Lesson learned!
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Originally Posted by JT24hr
I bidded on 3 houses just recently.
1st one, at list, did not win.
2nd, a little above asking, did not win.
3rd, below asking, won.
My Realtor had several clients, one of who bidded on 5 or so properties and did not get a single one.
It really depends on the property and what market you are in.
In my home buying experience lately, there just isn't much supply on the market, and if there is, it is a most likely a short sale.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Delron
Yes and I'm a non-Realtor who can confirm multiple properties where the listing agent pulled the "there are multiple offers over asking" card, and yet the property continued to sit on the market for months after this, or was subsequently delisted. I'd suspect that 9/10 times such a statement is made, it's a ploy and a BOLD faced lie (apologies for the misspelling in my original post; I'd correct it via edit if I could LOL) from an unscrupulous agent/realtor. We all like to bash stereotyping, but there's often very good reason for such generalizations.
I'm sure there are cases of suckers buying into it and actually bidding, and such statements leading to bidding wars/escalation clauses etc., but that doesn't mean there were ever any bids to begin with.
Guess you missed these posts.
5 buyers that have encountered multiple offers.
LOL I love how realtors/agents/sellers are trying to play buyers with I'm sure there are cases of suckers buying into it and actually bidding, and such statements leading to bidding wars/escalation clauses etc., but that doesn't mean there were ever any bids to begin with.
Of course there was. Your ignorance of how escalation clauses work (not to mention real estate negotiations in general) is on full display with that sentence. If someone makes a bid with an escalation clause, it only comes into play if the seller (through the listing agent) provides evidence of the bid that triggered the escalation clause in the first place.
And I speak from personal experience.
My house was listed on the MLS on a Thursday afternoon last September and by Monday we had five offers, two with escalation clauses. My agent called all five buyers' representatives to tell them we'd be making a decision on Tuesday at 6:00pm, and if they wanted to present a "best and final" offer to do it by then.
The two offers with escalation clauses each had different caps (both were well over asking price though), and we ended up selecting the lower of the two. After counter-signing their offer, we also provided them with a copy of the competing offer so that they knew why their escalation clause was triggered.
I suppose that there is no reason for me to go on because after all, I am just a bold-faced liar anyway, right?
We've encountered numerous multiple offer situations during our house search in the Boston area. We've lost twice, not gotten involved a few times because we didn't feel like the hassle, decided the house wasn't for us a couple of times and therefore not put in an offer, and won twice (had to walk after inspection once, set to close next week on the other).
Not every market is the same. While I think that positioning a home for multiple offers can be a risky strategy (see also how we didn't feel like the hassle sometimes!), it seems to work out just fine around here.
And although I'm sure it's not true of every situation, I've personally been responsible for a house appearing to remain on the market when really it was spoken for for quite some time...not every realtor changes the listing to "showing for backup" before the P & S is signed. The house we had to walk away from post-inspection couldn't be sold to the backup offers because they had found other homes by that time...thus it may have appeared to people not in the know that the whole scenario was a made-up one, when really it was off-market while we tried to sort out inspection issues with the seller.
I have some experience with this... I bidded on about 10 homes... about a third of them said they had received "higher bids" and these homes are still for sale and are actually selling for less than what I offered... so yes, some do lie but not all of them... With the homes being cheaper than what it has been in the past, its getting more prevalent since sellers and realtors want to get more but keep in mind, most end up losing more than what they had been offered... I don't feel sad or mad... sometimes when you get too greedy, you lose...
LOL you didn't "LOSE" anything. "Lost the home..." that is just hilarious.
I'm in the thick of the most out of whack RE market - the "prime"/desirable/higher end neighborhoods of LA, so my comments will be directed mainly based on my experiences & "local market".
There are some sales happening right now because there are ALWAYS gullible people who never learned that the LAST person you ask for financial advice is the person who stands to make money from your purchase.
And the poor *******s in the real estate business, tired of eating cat food and ramen for the last couple of years, are so desperate for a deal that they'll tell you the sky is purple if they think it will get you to buy. Remember, "it's ALWAYS a great time to buy".
Employment is in the toilet and at near-Great Depression levels. Homes in any remotely desirable areas have not yet returned to a decent price (3 to 4 times incomes). Sane people these days are holding on to their money and NOT buying in case their jobs don't last and they end up needing to leave the "golden state" to find work elsewhere. ARMS, stagnant economy, no jobs, monster government debt/fleecing of the taxpayers and public coffers....the bottom ain't here yet.
Who is buying in the mid and high end? Impatient suckers with money to burn, people who don't know any better, and some men getting pressured to buy by nesting wives. When asking prices are still 8x, 9x, 10x or higher than household incomes, and even in the nicest areas they have been historically 3x or 4x household incomes, then there is a bubble that needs deflating. Meanwhile rents are much more in line because they are based on what people can actually afford. It's not too hard to look at Redfin or Zillow and find many, many 2-3 bedroom homes (not condos, not mansions) that were easily within 3-4x the household income in very desirable parts of Los Angeles prior to the last decade.
In case people hadn't noticed, our economy in California is literally done for...dead cat bounce is in and the housing bulls are literally done. And Cali is what, one fifth of the US economy? I've been wondering how investors are sitting there with money in real estate watching the stock market climb and climb. When they don't realize those housing gains in 3-5 years, combine that with people walking out on their underwater mortgages, RIDICULOUS amounts of government inteverention that have only managed to SLOW the plummet to a crawl and you are looking at YEARS of depressed housing prices.
Don't sweat it. There is literally NO need to purchase a house. Not with rents as low as they currently are. Last I looked, a nice 3 bd/2ba in better parts of West LA goes for $2700-3500/mo, but would cost around $7K+/mo to purchase.The housing market THRIVES on emotion based decisions. The people seeing a bottom here (LOL..a 3 month bottom) are going to be kicking and screaming as they pull that falling knife they caught out of their chest 2-3 years down the road.
The biggest problem is the Artificial Govt Support. Throwing good money down a rat hole and just prolonging the agony. Prices are the problem. If it wasn't for gov't manipulation we would be though the worst of it by now after 2 years. But no, let's stretch it out for another few years, AT LEAST, until it's even worse before we go down the toilet. And even with all this support and artificial supply shortage in the housing stock, the RE market is still barely limping along, slowly lower and lower.
You Californians are all suckers to pay that much for either a purchase OR rent. Has that CA sun done something to your brains?
Seriously, why not move? Could you take another job elsewhere?
It might be more proactive than coming on a message board and complaining that prices aren't where *you* think they should be.
(BTW, I agree that prices out there are insane and have been, so no argument there...I'm just sayin'....)
You Californians are all suckers to pay that much for either a purchase OR rent. Has that CA sun done something to your brains?
If you make the money, then the higher cost of living isn't an issue. Look at what property goes for in San Francisco or New York City ... they make LA look cheap.
Beyond that, it's NOT like all of California is that costly either. I'm sure I'm crazy to have purchased a home in which my monthly payments (PITI) are on par with what rent goes for in the neighborhood.
Last edited by Narfcake; 04-02-2010 at 06:21 PM..
Reason: forgot a key word.
If you make the money, then the higher cost of living isn't an issue. Look at what property goes for in San Francisco or New York City ... they make LA look cheap.
Beyond that, it's like all of California is that costly either. I'm sure I'm crazy to have purchased a home in which my monthly payments (PITI) are on par with what rent goes for in the neighborhood.
Well, I guess if people are making that much money in these high cost of living areas, then it pretty much throws the "homes must return to affordable levels" argument out the window?
I mean, affordable to whom?
A licensed engineer or the burger flipper at McDonalds?
I'm sure I could not afford to live there, rent or own. So I wouldn't, not unless hubby's job as a senior analyst magically increased by 100%. That's just my point.
Well, I guess if people are making that much money in these high cost of living areas, then it pretty much throws the "homes must return to affordable levels" argument out the window?
I mean, affordable to whom?
A licensed engineer or the burger flipper at McDonalds?
Yep ... some areas just aren't meant to be owned by the middle class, and will always be considered "overpriced" to the masses. I can vouch that there's no way I could afford buying in the desirable parts of the the Westside ... no bank would allow for a any front-end ratio in excess of 100% nowadays.
4 years ago, OTOH ... a secretary (or an administrative assistant) making making $10k a month? A gardener (-er, I meant landscape designer) making $15k a month? A warehouse stocker (or is that logistics manager?) making $20k a month? And you own a 2005 Lincoln Navigator (oops, I meant a 1985 Ford Tempo)? Of course we believe ya!
This California (or NY or wherever) talk makes me smile because my mother in law about flipped when she heard what we had to pay for a VERY modest (1100 sq ft) house in Wyoming. She's from rural Kansas herself. Markets and prices (and incomes) are VERY different from one area to another.
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