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Trying to Purchase a Home in COVID-19 - Continually Lose Out, with Offers over Asking Price?

Sugarcubesea

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Looks like you are in my backyard. Check out some new construction in Novi. There are several developments that are building smaller homes, both ranch and 2 story. The two story will have the "master bedroom" on the first floor w/2 others upstairs. They call it 'aging in place' units with lots of little touches for older folks. Master bedroom can be a man cave for younger families, or a first floor master when you don't want to do stairs. Robinston Lakeview homes will be within a stones throw of Walled Lake lake and two parks. Nice area..... Some other developers are building the same near the hospital off Grand River. Live in the country while easy access to everything city.

Dorothy,
As I'm on my laptop this am and can see that you are also from Novi, that is so cool to have a TUGER right in my backyard and I see we both own at Pinestead Reef. So pleased to meet you....
 

Sugarcubesea

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Every market is different, and I’m sure you know yours. Those of us in the peanut gallery just want to see you get what you want!

PamMo thanks so much, you hold a special place in my heart every since we met in Maui and you gave us your boogie boards when you were leaving
 
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Theiggy

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Fingers crossed for you @Sugarcubesea !



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Sugarcubesea

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not sure where you are, but the same situation exists here in north florida. real estate is utterly booming. folks getting MULTIPLE full price offers within 24 to 48 hours...never seen anything like it before.

great time to sell! notsomuch to buy it appears though!

no doubt it is related to the crazy low interest rates on 30yr mortgages being offered! refinaning for a 15 or 20 in the 2.5% range is also appealing!

Brian, I'm in MI, in the Detroit Metro Area, which basically means a suburb of that area. In our state the housing market closed down in early March when the Governor shut our state down. Starting in June, we could start looking at houses and from that point on the market went nuts all the home in our area are selling at or over asking price. Because we are looking for lakeview or lakefront and a small site condo or small home, an not many folks are putting their places up for sale the market is insane and you have to watch for new homes every second or you lose out...

I was a realtor about 20 years ago when my kids were younger and I wanted to supplement my income and I have never seen a market like this one in my lifetime.
 
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rapmarks

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When we were looking for a home in Florida in 2003, the market was wild. The agent would set up to look at four homes and two would be sold before we got there. We tried to buy from developer and all inventory would be gone and then we would see the same places two weeks later by owner for ten percent more. after we closed on our house, there was an open house for same model for 25% more and there was a bidding war.
this continued for awhile, but crashed. A neighbor decided to take his profits and move. He put his house up for $449 turned down two cash offers for $440 and two years later took $220 for the house.

the market was low when I left Florida end of may with several nice homes, around 1800 square feet, with golf course and lake views, getting about $280 or less.
 

klpca

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Brian, I'm in MI, in the Detroit Metro Area, which basically means a suburb of that area. In our state the housing market closed down in early March when the Governor shut our state down. Starting in June, we could start looking at houses and from that point on the market went nuts all the home in our area are selling at or over asking price. Because we are looking for lakeview or lakefront and a small site condo or small home, an not man folks are putting their places up for sale the market is insane and you have to watch for new homes every second or you lose out...

I was a realtor about 20 years ago when my kids were younger and I wanted to supplement my income and I have never seen a market like this one in my lifetime.
Maybe there will be more homes on the market after Labor Day and the short term rentals finish for the summer?

Did you make your offer yet?
 

Sugarcubesea

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And??????

We just talked to our realtor and the listing agent is reviewing the 4 offers with his clients today and they hope to have an answer by 7:00pm tonight...I'm on pins and needles, I talked to my parents attorney (who was a close friend to my dad and his daughter is now our attorney) and I spoke to our financial planner who made himself available to us all weekend. They both looked over our offer and looked at the comps and said we put a fantastic offer together. They feel that by us going in over asking, having an escalation clause, stating that we would pay the difference if it does not appraise, and putting 80% down should make us very strong in the eyes of the seller.

Even my financial planner told me that he was glad I made an offer on this home, he wants me to take the mortgage vs pulling money out of my investments / CD's.

Now we just wait....
 

Sugarcubesea

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Maybe there will be more homes on the market after Labor Day and the short term rentals finish for the summer?

Did you make your offer yet?

Hi KLPCA, yes, we made the offer Saturday night, the listing agent told our realtor that they had 10 showings on Saturday and 8 showings on Sunday. The house listed on Friday but the first showing was not allowed till Saturday after 2pm, we had the first slot at 2pm. The listing agent told everyone that all offers were due by Sunday night at 11:00pm. So today is the day they will look at the offers. She told my realtor that 4 offers came in, with ours being 1 of those 4. So we are competing against 3 other folks
 

PamMo

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We just talked to our realtor and the listing agent is reviewing the 4 offers with his clients today and they hope to have an answer by 7:00pm tonight...I'm on pins and needles...

Now we just wait....

Sugarcubesea, I've got to say, I REALLY admire your grit! That is just too much stress added on top of everything else these days! You have the heart of a lioness to keep at it! I hope those four leaf clovers seal the deal this time! ;)

We've been long distance shopping for a home in Sedona and Reno/Tahoe, and have seen prices go up by 30-50% this year. It's time for a reality check.
 

klpca

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Hi KLPCA, yes, we made the offer Saturday night, the realtor had 10 showings on Saturday and 8 showings on Sunday. The house listed on Friday but the first showing was not allowed till Saturday after 2pm, we had the first slot at 2pm. The listing agent told everyone that all offers were due by Sunday night at 11:00pm. So today is the day they will look at the offers. She told my realtor that 4 offers came in, with ours being 1 of those 4. So we are competing against 3 other folks
Good luck. At least it's only four offers! (Crazy that we are even thinking that way, lol).

My daughter/SIL just moved to a new, touristy area with a lot of STR. They can't even find a place to rent (one apartment building has a 5 year waitlist, lol) so they are looking to buy instead. I will get to watch the same thing happening with them. Their realtor thinks that some more inventory may come online after the holiday weekend.
 

Luanne

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@Sugarcubesea I keep checking to see if you've heard anything yet. Thanks for the updates. Keeping fingers crossed for you. I would think the escalation clause alone would make yours a very strong offer.
 

Sugarcubesea

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Sugarcubesea, I've got to say, I REALLY admire your grit! That is just too much stress added on top of everything else these days! You have the heart of a lioness to keep at it! I hope those four leaf clovers seal the deal this time! ;)

We've been long distance shopping for a home in Sedona and Reno/Tahoe, and have seen prices go up by 30-50% this year. It's time for a reality check.

PamMo, thank you for saying this, I really needed to feel some good vibes and just needed a little extra support right now... I love the water, it is my calm and happy place.

I want this so bad, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up since we have lost so many others... However the ones we lost, I'm still ok with losing them because I will not pay $25K to $35K over asking when I know that I will need to sell this in 6 to 8 years when I retire. I know the value of lakefront in MI, my parents owned a cottage on Lake Charlevoix in the northern part of MI. My dad sold the cottage and with the proceeds allowed him and my mom to have a fabulous retirement.
 

WinniWoman

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I keep checking also to see what happened with your offer. I so hope you get this one! I don't know how you can stand it!
 

heathpack

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We are all on tenterhooks.
 

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Hi KLPCA, yes, we made the offer Saturday night, the listing agent told our realtor that they had 10 showings on Saturday and 8 showings on Sunday. The house listed on Friday but the first showing was not allowed till Saturday after 2pm, we had the first slot at 2pm. The listing agent told everyone that all offers were due by Sunday night at 11:00pm. So today is the day they will look at the offers. She told my realtor that 4 offers came in, with ours being 1 of those 4. So we are competing against 3 other folks



I am hoping that you wrote a very personal note to be presented to the seller (when your offer is presented). Sometimes a nice gesture may balance the scales in your favor when there are close multiple offers.

It's your turn to win this battle!

Best of luck!



.
 

Sugarcubesea

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We just talked to our realtor and the listing agent is reviewing the 4 offers with his clients today and they hope to have an answer by 7:00pm tonight...I'm on pins and needles, I talked to my parents attorney (who was a close friend to my dad and his daughter is now our attorney) and I spoke to our financial planner who made himself available to us all weekend. They both looked over our offer and looked at the comps and said we put a fantastic offer together. They feel that by us going in over asking, having an escalation clause, stating that we would pay the difference if it does not appraise, and putting 80% down should make us very strong in the eyes of the seller.

Even my financial planner told me that he was glad I made an offer on this home, he wants me to take the mortgage vs pulling money out of my investments / CD's.

Now we just wait....


We still have no news, our realtor touched base with the listing agent last night at 9pm and listing agent stated that because the home is in a trust and they have to get consent from all the beneficiaries, they need another day. I told our realtor that it's fine if they need a bit more time... Hopefully we will have an answer today...
 

DaveNV

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I am hoping that you wrote a very personal note to be presented to the seller (when your offer is presented). Sometimes a nice gesture may balance the scales in your favor when there are close multiple offers.

I'm not sure notes from buyers make much difference in a volatile market. When I sold my Washington house in July, two of the five offers we received had nice notes from buyers submitted. My Agent recommended I set them aside and compare the five offers side by side, focusing on which was the strongest offer to buy. The notes were attached to the least strong offers, so in the end, it didn't make any difference. The Agent said in this market, the strength of the offer should be the deciding factor.

Dave
 

DaveNV

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We still have no news, our realtor touched base with the listing agent last night at 9pm and listing agent stated that because the home is in a trust and they have to get consent from all the beneficiaries, they need another day. I told our realtor that it's fine if they need a bit more time... Hopefully we will have an answer today...

I think the offer you put in is exactly as strong as the one we accepted on the house we sold in Washington. The initial offer price was $5K over asking, with an escalation clause in $3K increments up to $20K over the offer. Buyer put 80% down with no sale contingencies on another home, and agreed to pay the difference if the final price was over appraisal. It was a rock solid offer, and was far and away the strongest one submitted. When compared to the four others we received, it was an easy decision to select that one.

Hope you get this home you want. It looks like a great place.

Dave
 

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I am hoping that you wrote a very personal note to be presented to the seller (when your offer is presented). Sometimes a nice gesture may balance the scales in your favor when there are close multiple offers.

.

As a Realtor in NJ, I do not instruct Buyers to write a personal note and ask Sellers not to let it sway their decision if one is presented with an offer.

Too many opportunities to discriminate and violate Fair Housing regulations.

Maria
 

klpca

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I'm not sure notes from buyers make much difference in a volatile market. When I sold my Washington house in July, two of the five offers we received had nice notes from buyers submitted. My Agent recommended I set them aside and compare the five offers side by side, focusing on which was the strongest offer to buy. The notes were attached to the least strong offers, so in the end, it didn't make any difference. The Agent said in this market, the strength of the offer should be the deciding factor.

Dave
I don't disagree with you and when I first head that letters were "a thing" my eyes couldn't roll back in my head any further because I am a dollar and cents kind of person, but in our deal in March it was the deciding factor for our seller. He liked that my daughter was going in to teaching. So I guess that I put it into the "you never know" category. I know that the market has heated up since then so things may have changed. Our deal had three buyers and we all offered full asking - nowadays everything would have been over asking.
 

DaveNV

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I don't disagree with you and when I first head that letters were "a thing" my eyes couldn't roll back in my head any further because I am a dollar and cents kind of person, but in our deal in March it was the deciding factor for our seller. He liked that my daughter was going in to teaching. So I guess that I put it into the "you never know" category. I know that the market has heated up since then so things may have changed. Our deal had three buyers and we all offered full asking - nowadays everything would have been over asking.

I understand and agree. You sold in March, just before Covid changed everything. In that normal market time, it might well make the difference when faced with a situation of "Gee, they're all the same - which Buyer do I want to have my house?" If all five offers we received had been for the same amount, with typical financing details, and if this was a normal market, then yes, the notes might have made a difference. But in this case, the offers were very uneven. The two with notes were attached to at-asking-price offers, one of which was a very weak buyer who likely would have had trouble closing escrow, who also wanted us to pay their closing costs. So at the end of the deal, we'd have netted well below asking for the house. Of the three above-asking offers, (which were all offering the same amount), the one with the escalation clause blew the others out of the water. It was far and away the strongest offer of them all. We gladly accepted that offer. Hoping @Sugarcubesea has a similar experience.

Dave
 
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