Weak housing market? I don't think so....

[Blake Foster]

ok your system must be way different than ours,
Why is the bank making offers on the house that is 30K higher than the asking price???
when i buy a house the asking is say 450,000 i offer 440,000 they counter at 445 i say ok and the bank transfers the mortgage and done???

[JKnight]

Blake, I know your question is directed toward Roger, but I'll chime in anyway.

The concept of "asking price" has gotten really mangled in the last few years, which is really at the heart of my complaint. Banks will list a house for $175 when what they really want to get is $200k. So you come in with a legit offer of $175, maybe even $180, and like Roger said the bank may counter for $200k. Why didn't they just list it at $200k in the first place....

[slow4dr]

That right there is the difference between an approved short sale and one that isn't. On a non approved short sale the listing agent is using comps to set a price and get some offers. You will see non-approved short sale prices drop quickly and often until they get an offer. Then the agent will take the offer to the leinholder/leinholders to negotiate what they are actually willing to sell the property for.


-J

[ironworks]

Blake, with a non approved short sale, the listing agent list the home for the distressed owner. They slap an asking price on it. Then if it's a good deal every body gets in line with an offer. In Bakersfield the market is different just going across town. Then once the home owner accepts one of the offers it goes to the Bank to see if they will settle the debt for less. They are obviously trying to get the most money possible. So that is where the counter offer comes.

But the house can only sell for appraised value. So if the back wants more then the appraisal says it's worth. Then the banks price has to get lowered. The house we just bought was listed at 135k, in the rush of offers we offered 145. My wife loved the house. Then 3 months later the bank came back and said they want 165. So we countered again. My realtor told me she some times offers more and then put hidden concessions. So we did 155 with the 3.5% back. Which is means we really offered 150ish but it sounds like 155. The bank agreed and it is now in escrow.

Some times if there are more then 2 loans, the banks can never agree so the house just forecloses. The real estate market here is really hit bottom. I know a guy who short sold a house he owed 240 on for 80K. Crazy what the market is.

[TimeWarpF100]

Originally Posted by JKnight

So my Fiance and I are trying to buy our first house right now. I held off on buying a house out of college in 2005 because I felt like housing prices were unsustainable. Turns out I was right and it has been one of the best decisions I ever made.

We will be staying in the Phoenix area, so we figured with all of the news of the soft housing market, short sales, foreclosures, and bank owned properties, we would have no problems finding a decent place with a little potential.

Reality of the situation is that there are absolutely no indications that the housing market is still soft. Some even go so far as to call it a buyer's market. I don't think so. Every decent property has 4+ offers by the 3rd day on the market, all of which are significantly above asking (35-50%) and many are full cash offers (investors?). Its no wonder the supply of homes isn't going down. The investors buy these places up by the handful and relist them the next week for a 10% premium. Many of these places still need a good bit of work to be livable.

It's starting to seem as though there is very little opportunity for normal buyers to buy a humble house to live in. We are prequalified, first time buyers with no skeletons in our closet and USAA as a lender. Why in the sam h$ll I can't seem to buy a decent house is beyond me.

Thank you for allowing me to rant....

Phoenix area is a very tough market to buy right now as a lot of Canadian and other investors are buying them up.

We sold our home in spokane after 5yrs of trying. Thought it would be cake walk to buy a place with over 50,000 homes listed. Problem is when you take out HOA there are under 9000 left. Add in a pool or shop and very little left.
I have made 6 trips to Phoenix to find a place. 1st offer was 375 on a short sale that seller approved of. Bank said no... Less than 30days later the bank sold it for 288k and then was turned in under a week for 320k. Smelled for an inside job of sorts.

We have looked at well over 100 homes in phx area. The ones with decent pricing as you say are getting offers well over asking price. Recently bid well over asking price on a Bank owned home only to find even though we were high bidder the bank came back and said they were taking highest and best and gave us less than 3hrs to bump our bid. Because the property had major zoning violations and the bank would tell us nothing we refused to raise our bid and it was awarded to someone else.

Time and time again I am seeing houses in phx area selling for less than my bid as the banks are so crooked trying to bump them. Kind of like a car dealer asking a certain price then you offering more and dealer not selling, crooked to say the least.

Most of my stuff is now in phx and the final move is this tuesday. I have no idea where I will be staying until a place is found.

I was quoted 30k plus for the move plus 5 vehicles, bought my own Semi which is also being used for storage. Waiting game to find something.

Good luck with your purchase!

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I'm trying to buy a 70MM building..... the builder (Starbucks) spent $422 per sq foot to build - and the asking price is $243 per square foot... it's a 287,853 sq ft building.

There are no "trick" financing deals -- and the winning bidder will have financing in place and a buttload of cash or they won't even look at the offer. And there are plenty of people willing to bid. No shortage of buyers just a shortage of REAL buyers.

AN UPDATE JUST IN CASE ANYONE CARES...




So for all of you trying to buy "short sales" etc..... I had posted this up and we've been working on bids etc for a few weeks now... the building SOLD for 125 MILLION..... we started bidding at 70MM.... There were multiple players on this building. The bidding requirements were "stiff" and no nonsense. They (Starbucks) wanted a top notch buyer - with CASH... and financing guaranteed... No "recession" in the commercial market here in Seattle if the building is class A and occupied with long term tenants! This building was only 64% occupied and needed an additional 6MM in TI's!

[JKnight]

We always care about how the "other half" lives Greg! It enables us to live vicariously through you.

Our update is that the second lender (the one with the heloc) has approved the short sale, now just waiting on the first. After that's done we just hope the appraisal and inspection work out right and should be smooth sailing.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by JKnight

We always care about how the "other half" lives Greg! It enables us to live vicariously through you.

Our update is that the second lender (the one with the heloc) has approved the short sale, now just waiting on the first. After that's done we just hope the appraisal and inspection work out right and should be smooth sailing.

Good to hear!

"WE" did not put in the winning bid... I'm not into paying too much for anything (except pro built '32 Roadsters )