It's incredible how much this market changes every week! I have seen over the past couple of months several changes in the market. First, the buyers came out in groves--it became a feeding frenzy! It wasn't unusal for me to show up at a property a little early, and as I'm waiting for my clients to show up, people to be streaming in and out of the house. It was so bad in some homes that I would walk in, there would be 10+ people in the house, and an agent walk up to me and hand me the keys. As I would show the property, more would pour in. Then we would rush back to the office to write up an offer, submit an offer only to find out there are mulitple offers now (yes, I did call the listing office before and there would be no offers on the property). Then by the time all was said and done, there could be upwards of 65 offers on the property!
Now I'm seeing this slow down a bit. Over the last three weeks, I'm not seeing as many cards in the homes, and buyers in the homes. Maybe it's because we're entering into the Fall and school is starting. Maybe it's because some buyers just got fed up (fortunately, I've only had one set of buyers give up). However, I'm relieved on so many levels with slow down. I keep reminding my clients (and myself) that right now, it's a numbers game. With each "no" we get on our offer, we are that much closer to the "yes."
I'm also seeing that the "flippers" are coming back. Again, over the past 6 weeks or so, I'm finding more and more homes that are traditional sellers. Big sigh of relief--right? Well, yes and no. Investors are purchasing the homes at auction, fixing them up (and doing a nice job too) and then selling the homes. However, the problem is some of them are pricing the homes above comps and/or they won't take a VA buyer. Another problem is the FHA buyer cannot purchase these homes because of the "90 day rule" (FHA will not lend on a property that has been owned less than 90 days). Overall I will say, I'm really happy to see these traditional sellers.
We are "expecting" more inventory over the next couple of weeks. I have spoken with several REO agents and they are being told by the banks that the banks "plan" to release more inventory the beginning of September. We'll see.
So we can see that this is a very different market than it was even 6 months ago. It's exciting and can be frustrating keeping up with all the changes. However, I'm always up for a challenge!
Oh, look at the time! I off to go show more properties!!
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