Friday, May 9, 2008

The Need for Speed

I find it hard to believe that all buyers are as obsessed with housing as we are. It takes time and effort to keep a watchful eye for price drops and visit new listings. Either that, or RE agents don't have as much to do, and are really staying on top of all the listings (but there are so many, so I find that hard to believe as well).

In any case, there seems to be quite a few who move the minute they spot a deal. Perhaps it's the local RE agent network that gives advanced notice that a home is coming on the market at a great price. I have no idea, but it seems that many of the truly "good buys" out there are pending before we even have a chance to react. If I had to guess, I would imagine its flippers or investors, since they focus on the market for a living, and can move on things without juggling schedules.

If you aren't Johhny-on-the-spot, these places disappear within days, such as 1109 Sandwick in Folsom. Although that seemed to be an odd case, but still, my agent called on it, and we had to get in line, hours after it was listed (for around 100-75k below comps). Another example was a home recently listed on Jared in EDH, it went pending before I even saw the listing, and once again, it was 100-75k below comps.

So anyone who tells me they can't sell their house, is really just saying they won't, cause there are plenty of buyers/investors out there looking for homes that are priced well.

6 comments:

husmanen said...

Yes, very interesting.

The Jared house was off my list once I drove by and could throw a rock to the high voltage lines and it backed to Silva Valley. But that didn't stop the pending sale. I drove by the area a few weeks ago and the house was empty, forecloser stickers on the door and overgrown. Something funny there too.

Sandwick was on my list too but fell off due to the property backing to East Natomas, we have enough noise where we currently live. Not sure what it eventually sold for but the orignial below 'market' asking price could have been a bank method to start a bidding war.

But returning to your 'need for speed' question, I agree, even with technology (internet) and tools (zillow, assessor sites etc) the personal network still trumps in certain situations. The volume, types of homes, availablility of willing and qualified buyers will make this less of an issue for the near future.

Jacob said...

Just another reason for waiting until prices stabalize. I dont want to have to rush into the biggest purchase I will ever make.

2cents said...

I think that what happens in many of these cases where listings go pending as soon as they are listed is this: the listing agent already knows of a potential buyer for the house before they list the house; the listing agent shows the house to the buyer and gets an offer before it officially goes on the market; then the house is listed and changed to pending and the listing agent pockets both sides of the commission.

Very common during the bubble inflation period.

The seller gets ripped off this way since they are deprived of full exposure to the market and the potential for competing, and possibly higher, offers. Since those higher offers might come from a buyer represented by a different agent who would get half the commission, the listing agent is looking out for his own interests at a cost to the seller.

... said...

Here's how it works... you tell your good agent what you are looking for, they network with agents who work the area, those agents tell them when they are listing a home that might fit your criteria, in fact they might call in the 24-48 hour space between signing a listing agreement and it getting manually entered into the computer database or the next 24 hours until ZIP Realty sends out a message to you electronically....

Are you expecting the chips are embedded into the paper the listing is written on so it beeps you upon signature? Technology isn't there yet. This isn't UPS.

Let me guess, you're doing your agent's job, finding the home, telling the agent to set the appointment, etc. 2-3 days behind already.

erin@erinstumpf.com said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
erin@erinstumpf.com said...

Hmm...I can only speak for myself, but when I am actively working with buyer clients, I comb through listings on a daily basis looking for "Day 0" brand new listings that match their criteria. If I see a potential match, I go preview the listing as soon as I am able to. If it is a fit, I contact my client and show it asap. Right now, I probably preview 30-40 listings per week for 6 different buyers. Right now good properties in certain price ranges and areas get into contract very quickly. It is critical to get buyers in early.