For those of you that aren't anglers or fans of nature shows it may be hard to actually picture a feeding frenzy....it's total panic...the water splashing and boilling as predatory fish go absolutely crazy...and that is a completely accurate picture of the housing market right now for buyers in San Diego.
Yesterday I called a listing agent about a home in Mira Mesa...a popular suburb....this poor guy was totally unprepared for what happened about ten minutes after that listing hit the MLS. His own words say it best, "I expected calls...but I didn't expect every agent in San Diego to call me"...in less than two days on the market he had over THIRTY OFFERS....he started at $299,000 and had offers of over $375,000....and more were coming in every hour. And that brings up another point....buyers gaming the system!
It didn't take too many months of buyers losing out to higher offers before their agents learned that if they just throw out a crazy highball offer.....$20K or more over any reasonable idea of an appraisal...then some greedy seller...ususally an REO manager...will take it....only to find that after they have an FHA appraisal they end up settling at the appraised price anyway...a nice backstop for the crafty buyer but that could only last so long...so it was a great tactic for three weeks or so...but now we have a new twist!
We're already seeing statements in the MLS listings designed to discourage this ethically challenged practice,"Buyers submitting offers over listing price will be responsible for any difference between the appraisal and contract price"
So, the beat goes on! San Diego is at the tip of the spear for the housing recovery...what is next??
Comments(0)