Got busy, blog went to the wayside (sorry, clients to make happy)... Anywho, anyone wondering how the $8000 tax credit has affected our local real estate market?

It has been fascinating watching how this $8000 tax credit has affected the real estate market in the Omaha, NE. It has seen a swing and sway. It has been steadier with showings all around, but I have never seen such frenzy for homes under $120k. It is downright ridiculous. I have agents calling ahead of time to see if it's still for sale because all the others they have called on have gone under contract....This I like to hear. Nothing quite like hearing you lost out on yet another home to put a fire under a buyer to submit an offer (hopefully on my listing next)!

FASCINATING SCENARIO 1:

There have been some casualties to this madness. I have two distinct clients that their house sat on the market for a month or two, so when we got an offer, they accepted one lower than they had hoped because they were ready to move on with their lives and cut their losses...

Well, low and behold, during the period of inspection while freshly pending, I had this seriously ridiculous uptick in calls from every buyer wanting to write an offer on the house. I mean I was almost being stalked by the clients and their agents because they wanted to know if it looked like it was going to go through. My question for them is, "Where the heck were all of you the past month or two when we were just waiting for an offer to cross my desk???"

Each of these clients had outstanding homes; priced well, showed well, marketed well (of course), I mean dream listings. The buyers were on the same schedule it seems, everyone was swarming come March and then again in September. The other months were busy, but those two months were literally fanatic, people were going crazy to get offers in and see houses...But this was sad for 2 of my clients in some ways because they missed the frenzy by a couple days and maybe could have gotten more from the frenzy...Hindsight is 20/20. You don't know if it will truly happen until it does.

FASCINATING SCENARIO 2:

I had this adorable first home buyer Hearthstone home, Monticello plan in Carriage Hill. A couple weeks in we got competing offers...I realize that in coastal areas (OR anywhere HGTV films, don't get me started on HGTV and how people think its really how it works HERE) competing offers can be a normal occurrence...We live in Omaha, NE and people here are CONSERVATIVE. When an offer is on the table, they back away, shrug their shoulders, and say something like "humph, guess it wasn't meant to be".

Did you hear me: I HAD COMPETING OFFERS and yet neither of the people came in with full price offers! What the?! Then we went back and forth, one and then the other several times and still NO FULL PRICE OFFERS with closing costs as a concession? What the?! This is every seller and agent's dream. It was absurd. We put the deal together on one of them. It was a good deal, but really, really???!!! I really thought even full price with closing costs paid should have been feasible. Madness I tell you.

(I also must sidenote: the home was priced $6000 below what they paid for it in '05, just to give you an idea of prices in this market)

FASCINATING SCENARIO 3:

While this has been the busiest time I have literally ever seen in the business (psst, I started about 5 years ago when the impending crash media was starting) There are buyers everywhere.... Common sense would tell you that by supply and demand, that prices would be driven up by this demand...And that, my friend is where you would be wrong. Pricing has still had to remain low and offers, oh my, the offers have been coming in the lowest I have seen in years (and there has been a lot of bad times over the years)...Lots of buyers indeed, but not the kind around here, with our conservative nation, that is going to dare overpay for anything. They may want to buy, but they are not getting in to bidding wars, paying full price, or even full price when they are competing against another couple. They still want the entire farm, the cattle, the sheep, and your dog Jack over there to boot...And maybe if you're lucky they won't ask for your first born son.

It has been FASCINATING! I think the $8000 tax credit worked wonders for our local market, but it may have squeezed out all the buyers that would have been next years buyers, but again, we won't know that until it happens. My prediction is fairly bleak. I think people were optimistic, got out of hiding from all the fear the media has produced, and were buying/ selling again with some joy and fervor. However, I think we might hear crickets chirp when it comes to a screeching halt, we will all hold hands and look at one another blinking, anxiously waiting to see how it all plays out once the tax credit expires.