Simi Valley Real Estate Reality - Why Multiple Offers Don't Mean Squat!

I track every month, the closing statistics for Simi Valley and Moorpark sales on my Wordpress Blog, www.homebuysblog.com.  I started this detailed look last year and took the monthly closing data back to 2006 as our MLS systems until recently did not archive data. Our MLS system would purge the records that were three years or older and the database software could not handle the volume.  

I keep hearing from agents about how the market has bottomed out and that there are multiple offers on every property and that it looks like the recovery is underway.  Well,  I'm going to take the air out of this balloon, before the trouble begins again.

• My REO listings all but one have multiple offers.  Only a few of the offers on each property were serious.  The rest were testers.
  
• My Buyers are all up against multiple offers.   I am winning some of those battles with some key strategies I have been using for the last year.
  
• The Simi Valley closings for March 2009 right now look no better than 2008 in volume; in price - the decline is real. 
  
• The average closing price in March currently is $6,000.00 below February 2009.  This is about a 1.7% decline in the price sector with all the action.
  
• More than half the single family detached homes that have sold for less than $400,000.  The most activity has been at the $350,000 price.

The newspaper, TV, Magazine all say that sales are way up. What we need to look at is, that the market is different zip code to zip code and Simi Valley, while looking better than the fall winter of 2007 - 2008, still has a long way to go before a recovery can be claimed.

Why are there multiple offers, shrinking inventory and declining prices?

• Most properties coming onto market are in very poor condition with serious deferred maintenance issues.
  
• 50% of the sales are Foreclosures.  Buyers want to "stick it to the man" and see how low the bank will limbo.
  
• Short-Sales are like a wounded water buffalo in the midst of a pack of hyenas.  Buyers figure the bank is already on the ropes.

Low interest rates, tight inventory and tax credits are are getting buyers excited, but the numbers clearly show that a recovery just is not here yet for Simi Valley Real Estate.

What should you do if you are a buyer?  

• BE PATIENT, do not get whipped up into an eBay auction mentality.  
  
• Make a smart buy and don't worry if you are up against multiple offers.
  
• Pick the right agent to help you get an offer through in a multiple situation, if the home is the right home for you.  Picking the right agent is easier said than done.
  
• Subscribe to my two Blogs via RSS or email and check the monthly posting on my Simi Valley Real Estate Market Updates page.