Ok – so for the most part most banks had ended their moratoriums at the beginning of spring. In my market Queen Creek/San Tan Valley, 95% of home sales results from a REO (bank owned foreclosure) or a short sale (owner owned pre foreclosure). As a result of the moratorium, REO’s slowly disappeared and short sales began to pick up. Even the lenders were banging out short sale approvals more quickly. And, for those of us that don’t list REO’s having listings that sell in this market is a great feeling!
So, my listing’s were selling, getting offers within 8 hours of hitting the market. As a result, I knew we were under priced. I started increasing my listing prices. And guess what? Even they sold in 8 hours!!!!
Now, I’m a little miffed. The buyers are really getting frustrated because they see all the low prices and after being out bid on 10 -15 homes they are not understanding that our market is way under priced!!! They want the home that’s listed at $50k for $50k – not $65k. Now that REO’s are picking up, it’s the banks that are grossly under priced. I know they want to unload their REO inventory to sell quickly, but it’s getting a little ridiculous. When the listing says “Home must be on the market for 5 days before we can submit offers”, it tells me that they are ready for the multiple offer situation. Why not just increase the price instead of playing games with the buyers??
You Can Buy This Home - Asking $7
Creative Financing Available
(This is not an offer to sell real estate - mearly a joke people)
I don’t mind writing up offers on homes, but even when they are offering full asking price plus almost $10k and we still lose out something has to change! Even after educating them on the market situation they still don’t want to pay the increased price. They are totally disillusioned and want the house for less. Sometimes even less than the asking price.
What I’m afraid of this – after educating them on the market, it’s going to turn into the scenario that we see so many times with sellers. You know – you’re home has been on the market for 3 months with no lookers. Perhaps your home is a little overpriced. You back that up with the comps from the house that sold down the street for $20k less. You show them all the details but they still don’t believe you. Then when the listing expires you find out they list with someone else and reduce the price!!! I’m afraid that I’m going to start losing buyers to other agents that “convince” them to start increasing their offers. How can I retain buyers like this?? Do I even want to? Of course I want to! My job is to help buyers turn houses into homes and if I didn’t want to I wouldn’t be so upset about this.Where is the middle ground - is it in sight yet??
I also know that this is not just a phenomenon here in the extreme south east valley. As a part of the Phoenix – Metro Group, my partners are relaying the same thing happening in Gilbert, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Surprise and so on. Who’s got the Aleve? The rest of 2009 is going to be busy bumpy ride!
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