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I'm Not just Being Mean....Really!

By Sandra Paulow

Real Estate Agent with Aspen Properties, Inc. BR511793000

July 08, 2012 05:10 AM

If there is one true statement that can be made about the Real Estate Market, it never stays the same.

For the past five years we have been in a buyers market but many buyers couldn't buy for any number of reasons. Today there are more buyers in the market place but the market has shifted again. Where we have had too much inventory to sell, much of it Bank Owned or Short Sale properties, today we are leaning back toward a seller's market. That means that there is less inventory and prices are beginning to stabilize and in some cases increase.

The buyers are beginning to come back in to the marketplace only to be disappointed in their choices. We no longer have an unlimited supply of homes for buyers to look at and the choices are far fewer than they were even a year ago. Many buyers sat on the sidelines waiting for prices to bottom out and they missed their window of opportunity. Thus my title, "I'm not just being mean, there really are no other homes in your price range, really and truly".

As a result of this, buyers are jumping from agent to agent, spending hours and hours pouring through on-line websites looking for the perfect property, getting their hearts set on a particular property only to find out it is already sold. This is especially true for the few choice foreclosure properties that are hitting the market. Many of them are gone in hours, not days or months, as they have been in the past. The foreclosures are drying up. Sellers who could sell have done so and are now holding back their properties waiting for prices to begin to climb again.

If I had one piece of advice for any prospective buyers who are reading this post today, pick an agent and stick with them. If you see something you like, don't wait to see if the price is going to drop, jump on it because if you don't someone else is going to. There are a lot of buyers out there just like you. There are many real estate agents in every market who have a buyer or two of their own who are looking for that same property, so as the old say goes "The early bird gets the worm". If you don't move quickly, disappointment is bound to follow.

If I can help you find property in the White Mountains of Arizona, give me a call. I know my market and I know what's available, and I'll sure try to keep you on top of things as they surface so you can make that move quickly.

Thanks for reading, have a great Sunday.

Sandra Paulow, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR, REALTOR

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Phil Leng

Retired - Kirkland, WA

Phil Leng - Retired

Hi Sandra,

Same story here.

I am telling my buyer agents - If you have a buyer who wants to pay less than full price, who will not react quickly - don't waste your time on them.

Phil

Jul 08, 2012 10:54 AM

Joy Daniels

Joy Daniels Real Estate Group, Ltd. - Harrisburg, PA

That's good advice Phil (#8), but it's not that easy. We all have to learn those lessons and all situations are different.

Jul 08, 2012 11:14 AM

Sandra Paulow

Aspen Properties, Inc. - Pinetop Lakeside, AZ

REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR

I wish we could be that firm with our propects but they are not that plentiful this year to begin with and as this post states, they aren't terribly committed. I am considering making some changes in how I handle them though. We just need to make sure they understand the realities of the marketplace and see how we can get them committed to us. It comes down to other posts I have been seeing lately. There is simply too much information out there and the buyers think they know more than we do. Unfortunately some of that information is not current so they get excited about something that is no longer available. Thank you Zillow, Trulia, & Realtor.com.

Jul 08, 2012 11:24 AM

Demarco & Marisa

Remax Kings Realty - Riverside, CA

"The Choice is Clear!"

Sandra, this post could not have been more timely. I tend to agree with #8's philosophy for my market. I've seen too many buyers think that this is their market and they lose out on good homes and end up frustrated. Somehow, it ends up being the agent's fault for them not heeding our advice in the first place. I usually give them a couple of bites at the apple and then if they still won't listen, we have to part ways. I just don't have the patience to work with buyers that want to look at properties for 2 years before they decide on a home. That's just me though, many agents will. ~Marisa

Jul 08, 2012 11:37 AM

Joan Whitebook

BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH

Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

Sandra _ we are seeing this trend in my market as well, but buyer just don't want to accept the fact that real estate is changing again.

Jul 08, 2012 12:31 PM

John Juarez

The Medford Real Estate Team - Fremont, CA

ePRO, SRES, GRI, PMN

When we told buyers that they had a fabulous opportunity to buy and they should take advantage of that opportunity, they said that we were self-serving and they waited for prices to go down more so they could buy at the “bottom”.

Now that they have missed the bottom AND inventory is in very short supply, they accuse us of being self-serving when we tell them that they need to pay over the asking price in many cases in order to buy what they want.

Go figure…

Jul 08, 2012 12:49 PM

Patricia Kennedy

RLAH@properties - Washington, DC

Home in the Capital

Sandra, this is great advice to all of the buyers who think the Internet is going to do it for them.

Jul 08, 2012 01:07 PM

Dr. Paula McDonald

Beam & Branch Realty - Granbury, TX

Granbury, TX 936-203-0279

I just cut loose a commercial client who would never sign an tenant rep with me. She insisted on doing all of the legwork calling agents all over town. I wished her well.

Jul 08, 2012 01:20 PM

Sandra Paulow

Aspen Properties, Inc. - Pinetop Lakeside, AZ

REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR

This last comment made me think of a response I had to another blog I posted last night. We are dealing with people who think "I showed up so I get the prize right?"

Jul 08, 2012 01:28 PM

Charita Cadenhead

eXp Realty - Birmingham, AL

Serving Jefferson and Shelby Counties (Alabama)

I never really understood why buyers want to wait until the price drops rather than just making an offer.

Jul 08, 2012 04:34 PM

Lisa Hickling

Brampton, ON

My marching order comes from a buyer rep doc. There is no better guarantee of a mutually respectful professional relationship. I've learnt that the hard way and its not a lesson that requires a refresher.

Marketwise, very encouraging to see the upswing there stateside. It wont take more that a few lost opportunities for buyers to realize that they arent in Kansas anymore (unless of course they are :-)

Jul 08, 2012 05:35 PM

Pamela Seley

West Coast Realty Division - Murrieta, CA

Residential Real Estate Agent serving SW RivCo CA

Sandra, same here as there is not much available in a certain price range for those first-time buyers. Some have been trying to buy something for over a year which is very discouraging. I choose to work with buyers who are qualified and ready to buy. Looking on trulia and the other sites is a starting point, but a buyer needs an agent if they want to buy in this market.

Jul 08, 2012 09:03 PM

Gary L. Waters Broker Associate, Bucci Realty

Bucci Realty, Inc. - Melbourne, FL

Eighteen Years Experience in Brevard County

People waited and now they will have to pay the price...likely with fewer choices and possibly even higher prices.

Jul 08, 2012 09:12 PM

Amanda Christiansen

Christiansen Group Realty (260)704-0843 - Fort Wayne, IN

Christiansen Group Realty

I couldn't agree more Sandra. We are seeing the exact same thing here in Fort Wayne. It is no longer a buyer's market. It's just a good, solid real estate market!

Jul 08, 2012 10:56 PM

Chuck Carstensen

RE/MAX Results - Elk River, MN

Minnesota/Wisconsin Real Estate Expert

Very true in our area too. There is not much at all to choose from.

Jul 08, 2012 11:14 PM

Fernando Herboso - Associate Broker MD, & VA

Maxus Realty Group of Samson Properties - Clarksburg, MD

301-246-0001 Serving Maryland, DC and Northern VA

Not mean at all. .just smart

The choice of an agent matters

Jul 09, 2012 12:57 AM

Sandra Paulow

Aspen Properties, Inc. - Pinetop Lakeside, AZ

REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR

The wonderful responses here on AR is one of the reasons I love this forum. It does help to know that we are no alone in our frustrations. From one extreme to the to the other. First it was the crash & burn of values and an overabundence of properties available. Then it was unrealistic sellers who couldn't grasp that their values had crashed and they weren't going to retire on the proceeds of their sales. Now the opposite extreme, values are increasing and the buyers who sat on the fence waiting for the bell at the bottom are upset because the bell rang quite some time ago and they didn't hear it.

Jul 09, 2012 02:22 AM

Kathy Stoltman

Ventura, CA

RETIRED

Well stated, I wish we could have the buyers put down a retainer to work with us, this retainer would be credited to escrow at the close of escrow, perhaps this would weed out the lookey loos and keep the real buyers loyal.

Jul 09, 2012 02:45 AM

Linda Schneider

Fast Newsletters - San Diego, CA

Fast Newsletters for Real Estate Agents

Great discussion. I try to avoid showing a single house without a buyer-broker agreement (unless it's my own listing). With the agreement comes the conversation about what to expect. I ask them to discuss how they like to search, because they all want to search on their own "just in case". Then we talk about how they can get their needs met while still being loyal. I can't remove their process, but I can work with it.

Jul 09, 2012 03:44 AM

Richard Arnold

Keller Williams Realty East Valley - Tempe, AZ

Realtor - Tempe, Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, Phoenix

I had a client (HAD) who believed buying a resort-style home in resort area would be affordable on a dime. I arranged to meet this client at a home close to specs that I knew had multiple offers (but the listing agent encouraged more showings). We met and I gave the scarcity speech, signed the client and before we could exit, another agent arrived to preview the home for her clients.

Apparantly she had the same plan: shock the client with REALITY before showing them any real prospects. She whispered to me, "You know the STATUS of this home, right?" Stepping outside with my client I explained that we would encounter a lot of head-knocking as we previewed homes.

Well...lesson not learned, this client still thought that resort-on-a-dime was waiting around the corner....until I gave the tour of homes that were in the client's TRUE affordability --> 10 miles away in a different town! I think the shock hasn't worn off yet, but the client still reads my email updates!

Jul 12, 2012 02:07 PM