Housing Market in San Antonio? (Howe: loans, homes, buyer) - Texas (TX) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

kevcrawford · 12-13-2010, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Proffer

I know that the realtor has deemed the thread completed, but I have to say I chuckled at his offense to lowball offers as being "ridiculous". Did you also find it "ridiculous" when buyers were expected to pay DOUBLE in San Antonio over the course of a few years? (Hmmmm, methinks not so much...) And I'm so sorry that realtors get annoyed at negotiating with a lowballer. I mean you earn thousands of dollars for pointing out where the bathrooms are and this lowballer is being nitpicky. Sheesh. Bummerama.

This is a case of reading what you want to read. What I said was "it's amazing how many BUYERS get offended if you don't accept their lowball offers". Not that I got offended by them. Not that I hate negotiating with them.

It's a fact that there are a lot of folks out there that submit incredibly low offers and think that the seller owes it to them to accept them. That's a fact. It's not my opinion.

I get annoyed at people that think they're owed something, and people that try to put words in my mouth.

And yeah, the 60+ hours a week I work is all spent pointing out bathrooms. That's what so many people think and they go get a license. Then they find out what my job REALLY entails when they're going broke. There are a lot of good Realtors out there, but there 10 times more that got their license thinking that this was an easy job and anyone could do it, before dropping out of the profession.

sshurgot · 12-13-2010, 07:02 AM

Buyers who make low-ball offers, in my experience, just want to find out what they can get away with. They know the offer is way low and don't really expect it to be accepted. They use it as a mechanism to negotiate the best price they can. (Whether it works or not is debatable. It really depends on how good the listing agent is.)

I've never met a buyer who thinks the seller owes it to him to accept the offer (though I understand there are probably a few out there); my clients tend to be very reasonable people. Thank you for reminding me.

kevcrawford · 12-13-2010, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sshurgot

Buyers who make low-ball offers, in my experience, just want to find out what they can get away with. They know the offer is way low and don't really expect it to be accepted. They use it as a mechanism to negotiate the best price they can. (Whether it works or not is debatable. It really depends on how good the listing agent is.)

I've never met a buyer who thinks the seller owes it to him to accept the offer (though I understand there are probably a few out there); my clients tend to be very reasonable people. Thank you for reminding me.

Oh I agree to an extent. I have buyers that make low offers because sometimes they can get it, but I make it clear from the start that sometimes offers like that are insulting to sellers, and they may not get very far, or worse, they may affect their ability to get the house for a reasonable price, because an offended seller is a hard one to negotiate with.

There are quite a few buyers out there (not all of them) that DO think they should get a deal just because the media says there are deals everywhere. The best deals are ones where both the buyer and seller wins.

I'm also blessed with some amazing clients right now, because there is very little drama in most of my deals. You can get a MUCH better deal and experience by treating the other party with respect.

But on quite a few of my listings, I've had buyers show up with offers that we rejected, and then get snippy with us.

HeyEng · 12-14-2010, 01:11 PM

The fact of the matter is that San Antonio is softer than it was a couple of years ago, hell, more than it was 6 months ago! But, it could be worse. My wife is Realtor and she has seen a dramatic decline in business in the last 4 months. People who bought 3-4 years ago will most likely be upside down after it's all said and done (if 0% was put down) or about flat like we are (30% down). We have a messload of folks getting ready to transfer and by far, most will take hits or just rent the houses out to keep from taking a hit. She has about 15 listings and there isn't much movement with them. Not a lot of showings and the offers that are coming in are low ball. It's a pretty good time to buy, but not so good to sell! Also, I would in NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM buy a house that I didn't expect to be in for AT LEAST 6 years (or 10 if these "shadow foreclosures happen"!).

TexasRedneck · 12-14-2010, 01:20 PM

To be sure, a lot of it will depend on location (as always), but many Realtors I speak with tell me that there is bounce-back going on right now - that folks are coming back into the market. A lot depends on the type of housing, as well. The areas built out with a lot of marginally-qualified folks are going to have a lot more inventory as folks that should never have been allowed to buy in the first place ultimately walk away from those homes.

Proffer · 12-14-2010, 10:29 PM

TexasRedneck, find out from your realtor friends who these buyers are that are coming back into the market. Are they highly qualified first-time buyers who turned their noses up at the 8000 credit last year? (probably not). Who are they? And remember, today's "lowball" offer is a fair offer, considering the price curve associated with the appearance of, and subsequent DISAPPEARANCE of, creative financing and other games that have come to an end. The market just needs time to unwind. Patience... As a future buyer (could you tell from my posts?) who has been sitting out the market with substantial savings for the past several years, I welcome interest rates shooting the moon, making the whole market melt into the pavement like the wicked witch of the east that it has been, carrying all of its former profiteers with it. Nighty night

TexasRedneck · 12-15-2010, 12:15 AM

They are from the same pool of clients she's dealt with for years - folks with decent credit scores who are buying based on what they need/want, with the savings to give a proper down payment and without needing the "gimmicks" that many of the builders tend to offer.
You do NOT want the rates going high, my friend - because if they do, you are going to see even more inflation, causing your dollar to buy less. The "profiteers" you speak of are mostly gone already - they saw the handwriting on the wall already. Those left are the folks that had worked, saved, and thought they were doing a smart thing by buying a home. If they're patient, the market WILL come back to 'em.

scuba steve · 12-15-2010, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Proffer

TexasRedneck, find out from your realtor friends who these buyers are that are coming back into the market. Are they highly qualified first-time buyers who turned their noses up at the 8000 credit last year? (probably not). Who are they? And remember, today's "lowball" offer is a fair offer, considering the price curve associated with the appearance of, and subsequent DISAPPEARANCE of, creative financing and other games that have come to an end. The market just needs time to unwind. Patience... As a future buyer (could you tell from my posts?) who has been sitting out the market with substantial savings for the past several years, I welcome interest rates shooting the moon, making the whole market melt into the pavement like the wicked witch of the east that it has been, carrying all of its former profiteers with it. Nighty night

People do move to SA from time to time... Having a place to live is a good thing.

RGJ · 12-15-2010, 07:40 AM

Just to give you an idea of things....In the north central area, there is about a 6-7 month supply of housing; median days on market is 70 and the median sold to list price is 97%. It's not much different in the area outside of 1604 on the northwest side of town. I don't think this is a soft market at all.

Be careful what you wish for in the interest rate. When the housing market slows down, it not only affects the builders, but it affects all the sub-contractors, i.e. plumbers, electricians, framers, roofers. It also affects the sales of furniture, appliance, garden centers and on and on.

I really see no reason why anyone would sit on the sidelines right now.

Of course, if you buy a new home and try to sell it within a couple of years, you are probably still competing with the builder. This has always been the case.And for the record, I'm not a Realtor or builder.

TexasRedneck · 12-15-2010, 08:34 AM

True on buying in a new subdivision!! We got fortunate w/ours - purchased in '03 (build completed early '04), just before things got "hot" - materials started going through the roof, etc. This place had a base price of $144k then - today, the same is $198k - and yeah, they're sellin' 'em. We did about $44k worth of upgrades on ours, plus it was an "oversized" (1/2 acre) lot - they did NOT realize it was also a "view" lot.

They've also downgraded a LOT of the "standard" features included in our place - so the good thing is that we could sell, but really have no interest in doing so. Neighbors friend approached us about doing so recently, but we declined - we really like our place, and built it as we wanted it.
Don't get me wrong - it's NOT "easy" to sell something right now by any stretch of the imagination, simply because there ARE so many other places on the market. The good news is that the employment opportunities in SA continue to grow, so more folks are moving in, which will result in the absorbtion of the inventory.