Here are some wonderful words of wisdom from a colleague in Mission Viejo, California. Since our markets are so closely tied together, it's great to see that the California market is starting to make a comeback as well.
We are still in a buyer's market in the sense that prices are low, supply is high and there are great interest rates available. But in my multiple offer market...the process has changed dramatically. It's becoming critical that buyers move fast....because the houses are moving fast.
Friday I took a couple out to look at homes who are more comfortable moving slowly....which is understandable. We did see one "turn-key" home they just loved. It was the first home they really felt worked for them. The price was right, the street was perfect, the schools were good! It was vacant and being sold by a seller with equity. Perfect!!!!
We spent close to an hour there.....wandered around, sat in the staged furniture, walked around the block. Lot's of time to open cupboards and "test the tires." As we left they both said how much they wanted to write an offer...but wanted to sleep on it. I told them my concern was that going into the weekend, they might want to get their offer in on Friday so they had no competition. No they had to sleep on it.
Late Saturday they called to ask about the home and writing an offer. So I pulled it up on the computer....sure enough, it was in back-up. So I called the agent to find out what was going on. She said they had an offer they got on Thursday and it came close enough that the sellers didn't want to bother with showings over the weekend and took it first thing Saturday morning.
We were a better offer......we were putting 30% down, we had a slightly higher price in mind. We would have gotten the deal had our offer gone in on Friday. My buyers were devastated and couldn't understand how it could have gone that fast.
Learning curve....hesitancy in my market is not going to work. We are moving fast!
It pays to be decisive, its shame you and client lost out and now have start again! Sellers are beginning to get this idea very fast. Its like fishing, you get a bite and real them in fast. This is not a market for the faint hearted! Perhaps you be able use this story to convince other buyers to move fast.
Thanks, Jess Graves
Jess - I couldn't agree more. Buyers are learning very quickly that good homes priced well MOVE.
Add Investors, short sales and foreclosures to the mix and suddenly heads are spinning!
I wish you luck with your buyers. Sometimes I find that buyers need to lose one before they 'get it.' Nothing like learning the hard lesson to get you motivated not to lose again.
Very, very true. I put up a listing on Friday, they received a full priced offer on Saturday!
Tony and Libby - I can one-up you. I just got a new listing this morning at 6:30am, and am already expecting a contract at 2pm today! Can you believe it! The market is shifting right in front of our faces!
And congrats on yours too! I just love this brisk new market - it presents so many challenges and is so fast-paced!