WatchWe looked at a house about 3 weeks ago - the asking was $164,000 - short sale.
It was def. on the smaller side, but way cheap for our area and in a decent neighborhood. HOA was $160/mo which we thought was reasonable. Def. rental potential, and we thought it couldn't hurt to look....
Soooo, my wife called the listing agent, and before she could really get two words out of her mouth, the agent says, "we have 5 offers, so if you want the house, you need to make an offer." My wife politely tells her we just want to look at it - listing agent agrees, and sends one of her tool friend/agents to show us the house the next day.
The agent who showed us the property, easily could have been my mother (she had like 30 years on me), but spoke down to me as if she had the ball in her court. What was even funnier was that she drove up in her decked out Cadillac ... 22" chrome ghetto wheels....
SARCASTICALLY she said "we have 3 offers on it - would you like to make one, and who will you be financing with?" (Funny how the number of offers on the property changes, depending on who you talked to...)
I politely said "we will not be financing - if we make an offer, it will be all cash." Immediately her tone of voice changed with me and she went from "mom-mode" to "best friend." Almost begging us to place an offer, because the place was going to sell "ANY SECOND." Anyhow, we thanked her - but told her the place was too small for us.
Three weeks later - after the house should have sold, we get a call from the listing agent, almost begging us to put in an offer. Apparently, they had ONE offer, all cash, for $160k - but upon inspection, the place needed $10k in termite work - and the buyers backed out.
Anyhow, buyers may be playing hardball. A place like this would have sold immediately last year, but here we are, good price, good location, one month on the market, and it didn't sell yet.
Good change buyers may be demanding more and/or are not putting up with the Realtors BS anymore.
Thought I'd share...
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There were never any offers.
Be sure to call the abutting neighbors to this shit house and tell them the thing is a termite nest and should be burned to the ground.
Then call the realfucktard and ask what she did that was so impressive that her pimp let her keep his car.
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San Francisco, CA
Malkovich's website
APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says
Can I sign up for your newsletter, good sir? :)
Every time I open a thread I immediately look for your post.
Many thanks.
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Half Moon Bay, CA
sale pending
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With home prices falling and historically only providing a rather modest return (inflation), I seriously don't understand the investor mentality. You're buying a depreciating asset that costs serious time and money to maintain. Most other investments don't require anywhere near that type of maintenance and have higher returns.
I STILL maintain there's a real estate investment bubble that is going to pop just as soon as those with the cash realize RE is not a good investment (relative to other options) and they start putting their money elsewhere.
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Madison, WI
Steer clear of termites, that whole are is probably infested, and they will come back, don't give the realtor hints on your finances, just say it's covered or show them the paperwork you get from the bank that shows how much you can borrow.
If your staying where your at, definitely keep looking at other places, and keep saving your money.
Don't make the same mistake I did and buy junk.. Don't be afraid to rehash/rethink what you really want, and need, etc.
Your going to have to put with a realtor no matter what, don't let them stress you out, let them do all the flipflam talking and sometimes, not very often, you can learn a little something from them.
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" That dump will ultimately sell for 85K, if they're lucky."
"Then you don't know the market in this part of the world."
Maybe. However I know Silicon Valley, and there are similarities, I imagine. Most people can't imagine real crashes; they don't have a sense of historical perspective, or what happens to money in a deflationary depression. You can buy oceanfront mansions in parts of Connecticut for cheap - and I promise you they weren't always cheap. I think 85K will end up being optimistic. Funny things happen when suddenly no-one can get credit.
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Just push them. Offer(don't forget to send a copy to owner directly) like 140K and then wait to see what happens. How much was your take home after expenses(at 160K)?
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joshuatrio says
Never mind. I did not follow the link to see if it is sale pending.
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Santa Cruz, CA
Realtors these days are desperate. You'll be able to notice it now.
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Monterey, CA
joshuatrio says
If it's a home for you to live in, you may as well try your luck with a low offer for one of the houses in Marina that is in the 250-275k range (or wait and save). They look a much better deal to me and prices still seem to be moving (slowly) down.
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Spring Lake, NJ
Salespeople are always going to do what salespeople do whether it's a used car or a home.
Realtors are doing whats best for buyers or even for the sellers either really, they're trying to maximize their own benefit so when you're a potential buyer you have to look at everybody else in the transaction with a jaundiced eye.
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Las Vegas, NV
LASVEGASWINNER's website
"I politely said "we will not be financing - if we make an offer, it will be all cash."
A "seasoned" agent would have inquired about "all cash" as to"you have $160,000 sitting in a checking or savings account today"? I would have then suggested looking at a $320,000 with 50% down since I would make twice the commission then on a $160,000 house. Sounds like the agent wasn't prepared to work with an investor
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Los Angeles, CA
Im claiming its common to hire an 'aggressive inspector' not to get of contracts but the buyers use this sometimes to get credit ($) for repairs after offer is accepted. Its well known tactic, and in most all cases the defects are real. Except for Mold and termite - i think those are mostly BS IMO based on my in the field experience. (in the case of mold i would say 100% a scam, 'toxic mold' is a scam 100% of the time IMO but you can find endless 'evidence' its real but I think its as fake as global warming, mold is natural and will grow on your bread in 2 days. But i could be wrong.)
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When I hear stories like this, I have to wonder...if you are the only one left, why don't you put in an offer? I understand you said it was too small, but you also said it was "way cheap" and could be a rental.
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Monterey, CA
tiny tina says
We worked the numbers last night. We could make an all cash offer, or with a small bit down, it was favorable to renting for a 15 year note. Not bad. Yes, we even used Patrick's calculator.
But at the same time, I don't want to put $160k down on a place that I'm not sold on. Additionally, we could rent it, but right now I'm not really wanting to be a landlord.
I hate financing anything, debt sucks. We're debt free - no car notes, credit cards, student loans ... zilch. Taking a mortgage or forking over $100k on a place that you're not sold on doesn't seem like the best idea to us.
Additionally, it's getting cheaper. Prices ARE dropping. Why not wait a year, and get what you WANT, and pay just a little bit more? Just a couple thoughts.
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Monterey, CA
PockyClipsNow says
1) The listing agent said they had five offers. Trying to push my wife into panic mode. The agent who showed us the house (who worked for the same office) said there were 3 offers.
They both mentioned all offers were WELL-OVER asking, and that we needed to submit something much higher than list price (forgot to mention that part).
Turns out, there was only one offer, UNDER ASKING !! Honest? No, the toolbags were trying to start a bidding war.
2) Yes it does - they work in the same office - they share information - they are on the same TEAM. An offer should not be considered an offer until it's submitted.
3) They called back because they didn't have 3, or even 5 offers on the table. They lied. And the toolbag came running back to my wife asking her to submit an offer.
The issue? The listing agent jumped on my wife and tried the old "pressure" tactic. They lied, they tried to start a bidding war, then they come back with their tail between their legs asking us to submit an offer. Additionally, being rude and disrespectful to others when they are calling for information is uncalled for - the job of a realtor is to sell a house and provide information.
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Monterey, CA
tiny tina says
Me neither. Which makes for a strong case against the agent playing games.... They were extremely unprofessional to begin with - so it wouldn't surprise me.
Eventually the agents will get desperate and do whatever it takes to sell a house - unlike what they are doing now.
APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says
I'm inclined to side with this opinion.
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It's called fraud. Call the police and ask for these two to be arrested for felony misrepresentation, convicted and stuffed into a supermax for 10-40 years.
joshuatrio says
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Small? HOA? You shouldn't have wasted your time.
I think a dinky house, is more for someone desperate to be a homeowner and will settle for anything before they get priced out for ever. Or some reasonable person or couple that don't have plans of growing. They like them if the price is right.
Renters damn sure don't want to cover your mortgage, tax, insurance, HOA fee on a tiny house. Condos are different, MFH's are perfect for the Renter not concerned with space. Because they don't have to worry about yard work, or carrying the garbage can out twice a week, getting a water bill from the landlord(which only recently has become the common thing to do).
There's plenty of Investors in my Neighborhood that has found out the hard way, a 900-1200 sqft houses don't rent well. Almost all of them have been put back on the market. Or are just sitting empty with a new paint job and fence.
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Santa Cruz, CA
It sold for $139,000 in 1991 :)
I think Marina's not a bad spot either.
What about putting a big down but not tying up all your dough in it?
Push comes to shove there must be some foreign students for rentals. They are at 1. mpc 2. cal state monterey bay 3. Monterey institute
Foreign female students are good tenants.
3 bedrooms=more bodies, more rent to collect :)