A not-so-open letter to potential buyers

My buyer clients recently had a disappointing experience with a deliberately under-priced home in Burbank.  It was originally on the market for $600's+ and had a $100,000 (!!!!) price reduction after 30 days.  That's really a big drop for a home in great condition and it immediately drew four offers. Yes, even in this market, some underpriced houses are drawing multiple offers.  Here's the heavily edited post-mortem email that I wrote them.

"[Buyers] I know the [street name] house was a disappointing situation.  But here's some "back story": ...[Some Realtors] are known for deliberately underpricing their properties in order to attract multiple bids and sell them quickly...The strategy is very controversial, but [some agents] and their sellers find it successful. My experience has been that properties sell just as quickly when they're priced correctly, but that's me. 

Additionally, [some agents] often have their own buyers for their properties -- who they then have bid against each other for the under-priced houses.  The [street name] house was really under-priced for that many square feet in Magnolia Park, so I wasn't surprised that it drew so many offers so quickly, even in this market.

So the take-away is that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Here's what you can do so you're ready to rock next time:

- Follow through with [buyers' lender] and obtain a full pre-approval.  Those mean more to listing agents and sellers than a pre-qualification.  Also, be able to show proof of funds to close in a liquid form.  In other words, your entire down payment, plus about 2%-3% for closing costs, should be readily available on a page or two from a bank or financial institution.

- Most listings are added to the mls Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  We can check every day, and if something is appealing, get in before the open house.  [Of course, this requires that you use a Realtor in your home search.  Just saying - ed.] And also, not all homes are open every weekend.  This way, you won't miss anything.

 - ...[Adjacent areas] to your [dream location]...may be worth considering.  [They may]...have great housing stock, and prices might be coming down.  It might be worth considering.  Perhaps you'll let me give you a tour sometime...

Anyway, please call me with any questions and know that I'm here to help."

A Burbank foreclosure for only $294,030!?

1913 Niagra (also spelled Niagara) has just listed in Burbank. It's a 3+2, 1150+ sf and is a foreclosure. It needs to sell all-cash, as one bathroom's fixtures have been removed and that makes it extra-hard, if not impossible, to get a loan. It is listed for $294,030, which must be the lowest per-square-foot price in Burbank. The listing agent's assistant tells me that there is already one offer in, and clients of mine want to make an offer early next week. Do I think that it will sell for $294,030? Nope. I predict it will sell in the mid-$300's.

Buzzwords for the week: multiple offers and deliberate underpricing

They're back. Just when we thought we'd never have to deal with multiple offers again. In the areas I serve, including Burbank, Toluca Lake and Studio City, homes are selling in days again with many offers.

Of course, it doesn't help that certain Realtors are underpricing homes in order to get a bidding war going. How does this serve the buyers and sellers? It doesn't, but the Realtor saves time and money on marketing.

And you'd think that full price, all cash offers would be enough. But no. A client of mine just lost a condo in a bidding war situation like that.

I'm glad to see the market come back, but not like this.