I feel compelled to share a recent experience that I had as a buyer's agent in Cedar Rapids this past weekend. This is the third instance of this practice that I have seen so far this spring in this price point.
The buyer that contacted me on Zillow was asking about a property that morning. The problem was that they were out of town for the weekend and wondered if they might be able to see it this week. After looking at the property on the MLS, reading the agent remarks that no showings would be allowed until the open house and then talking directly to the listing agent, I knew that it would be a madhouse at the open house. The listing agent boasted that there were 10 agents scheduled to be there with their buyers for the open house.
This was the setup:
The property came on the market on Friday, but there were no showings allowed until Saturday at 12:00-1:30 for the open house. There were 10+ agents there with their buyers, plus all of the unrepresented buyers that saw the ad for the open house on Zillow. There were so many people in the house that you could not see anything and there were agents talking loudly to their buyers about what they should offer on the house. Not surprising at all to find out that the house had received multiple offers during the open house and the seller was able to choose from all of the offers with several at the asking price or higher! Some of the buyers likely didn't ask for closing costs or inspections, just to try to make their offer "better". And that was the distressing part to me as a buyer's agent. I cannot imagine what it might have felt like as a buyer!
The realization that an agent would actually SUGGEST to their buyers that removing their needs was the BEST strategy...BLOWS. MY. MIND.
I mean, don't get me wrong. I am all for competition. It allows us to recommend that we place our best offer out of the gate and there is little to no negotiation. A first impression is all you may get! The hope is that the seller will choose to respond to YOUR offer instead of someone else's. But here is the thing, sometimes it is not the highest price that wins. It can be the buyer with the most down payment, with the quickest closing date or a flexible date if that is what the seller needs. It can be the lack of closing costs concessions or it can be fewer inspections. BUT, in the end, as a buyer you put your best foot forward. If you need closing costs to make the numbers work for your out of pocket expenses, you adjust your offer price up to balance it out. You don't need to give up what you need in order to win.
And if there is an offer better than yours and you don't get it, there will be others. In this situation, you are not the only one that lost! There can be only one winner when you are buying a home. Professional representation by a buyer's agent that is working only for you is the key to finding the home that you want and writing an offer that will get accepted! As agents, we know the market. When we tell you that the house will sell quickly, it does.
In the case of the buyer that contacted me, they texted me on Sunday to find out if the house was still available. Since I didn't have a buyer with an offer on it, I reached out to the listing agent to find out the status. It was sale pending as I suspected. Based on the feeding frenzy, I knew that it would be gone before this buyer could see it.
If you are searching for a home right now in Cedar Rapids, it would be a disservice for you to not have an agent that is looking for new listings and sending them to you as soon as they hit the market. The ones that are priced well and ready to move in, sell within hours rather than days. Call me and find out how we can get you started on searching for your new home together!
Keep smiling!
Karen
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