Lemme hear you chant it...
How low will you go?
How low will you go?
How low will you go?
Just because it's a buyer's market doesn't mean buyers write the rules in the market. Houses have a market value. That value is what a willing seller will sell for and a willing buyer will buy for without any undue pressure, or something like that -- it's been a while since I took the test... But did ya hear that, buyer, dearie? The seller must be willing. (I promise to listen to my own words when I am the buyer, myself -- ha)
Buyers -- the market is low. It's already low. It's already beat up. It's already beat like a hockey guy. Teeth missing. Black eyes. Cut cheek. So think your offer through and try to stay above the sand, but below the stick (by below the stick I mean most consumers won't pay list price or above, sometimes it's worth it, but most of the time... fine, but stay close to the stick when already priced low) and see how it turns out. Coming in significantly lower is just, well, you just fell in the sand. You lost. We don't want that.
When a listing reads something like "motivated seller" or "possible short sale" or "bring all offers" by all means -- flock to the limbo line. But one word of caution before you look down your nostrils: remember, you may not be the only one playing and you may be too low for this type of game. See, while you are calculating just how low you'll go on that price and justifying it with every imperfection you find, the other person who just read that motivated seller thing, too, recognizes it's already priced through the floor and they are writing and offer up accordingly... AND most of the time when there is motivation on the part of the seller, we, as pros, either price it super low for a fast sale or we price it with the approporiate verbiage to indicate they need a fire sale or something like it.
In other words:
1. Buyer's markets still have full price offers made when the list price is the lowest limbo bar in the neighborhood already. Coming in lower will not work. It's already lower than low.
2. Buyer's markets still have sellers who haven't lost their shirt and have no intention to, so prepare for a "no" when the verbiage isn't indicitive of needing a fire sale and stop turning blue arguing and move on.
3. Buyer's markets still have homes in excellent condition, vacant as they may be, laminate vs. granite as they may be, they still have comps to show where they should be priced and if priced fine, why come in $30k below list price? That's just a waste of a LOT of people's time. Again, if the sellers have any intention of taking that, trust me, we will market the H-E-double-hockey-sticks outa something like that!
The good news, buyers, is YES, it is a buyer's market (here in DFW in most markets) and it is a GREAT time to buy! So go get 'em, tiger!
Comments(7)