From the category archives:

Buyer Help

Bidding Wars and No-Brainers

by Heather on March 4, 2010

in Buyer Help

In yesterday’s post I promised 1 sure-fire way to avoid the stress of getting embroiled in dealing with a so-called bidding war. It’s bonus day here at The Phoenix Agents; here’s 2 ideas.

Option One - Make your best offer right out of the gate

Are you willing to pay $176,500 for that home that could be your Dream Home? Offer it. Don’t pussyfoot around offering $158,900 and hoping the seller comes back with a counteroffer. Just make your highest and best offer right out of the gate.**

I can hear the reply now: “But I don’t pay too much!”

Easy solution here folks. First, decide what is “too much” and what is “too little” for you and for this particular house. Mentally walk backwards from “too much” in increments of $1000 or so until you get to a number that you’d be satisfied with if you were the new owner of the home. Offer that.

There are a couple of scenarios that could play out here.

1) You bid low and don’t get the house – very likely

2) You bid your best and don’t get the house – could happen and would be disappointing, but at least you’ll know you gave it your best shot. Someone else – who was willing to pay what you believe is too much – got the house. Move on.

3) You bid your best and get the house – congratulations!

4) You bid low and get the house – in a true multiple offer situation, this is about as likely as winning the lottery.

Option Two - Stop Shopping

There is one sure-fire way to avoid the stress of multiple offer situations. Take your ball and go home. Don’t buy a house now. Keep renting and come back to play the game when the stakes suit your temperament.

Again, I can hear the reply already: “But I want to buy a house!”

You’ve got a choice to make.

Determine that you’re going to get over your fear of bidding wars by employing one of the strategies I’ve outlined here and yesterday. Or stop shopping for houses. Or at least stop shopping for houses that have bidding wars.

Hopefully this is helpful information. Still worried? Call or email me or Chris and we’ll talk you through it.

Heather Barr

**In metro Phoenix, in 2010, in prices under about $400,000 or so, bagain priced bank owned homes (a.k.a. forclosures or REOs) dominate the market. Remember Economics 101? Low price = high demand. If you’re shopping in this segment, expect bidding wars and bid accordingly. Not shopping in this segment? You might have a little more leverage in a multiple offer situation.

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heather

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

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Bidding Wars and Balls

by Heather on March 3, 2010

in Buyer Help, Real Estate Contracts

Don’t know whether this is a memory from real life or a movie**, but go with me on this. Imagine a scene with a politician at a podium taking questions  from reporters. Let’s call one of the reporters James and pretend he’s a notorious philanderer, because it makes my story better.

Reporter James lobs a stinger: “Senator, what about these rumors that you’ve been having an affair? Will you level with the American people about your private life?” Being a movie, everyone pretends this is unexpected, and there’s an audible gasp from the audience.

The politician pauses, then returns fire, “Gosh Jimmy. I will if you will.”

Bam! Tension diffused, politician gets off the hook. (this is fiction, after all)

What in Hades does this have to do with bidding wars?

It’s all about balls. And not even the kind you’re thinking about right now. Sellers who say “we have multiple offers” expect buyers to have the knee-jerk reaction of “Oh! I better offer more money.” Here’s a tip:

Just because somebody throws a ball at you, does not mean you have to catch it.

You’ll be given several hours or overnight to make your decision. Let the ball the seller just tossed at you drop. Take your time to decide whether you want to pick it up. Or not.

Does paying more make sense? For you? For the market? Sometimes paying a teensy bit more than you planned, for a home you’ll live in for 10-20 years isn’t such a horrible idea. What do the comparable sales tell you and your Realtor? Remember that tinkering with the terms of the offer can make it more attractive without spending additional money. Consider letting your offer stand as written – in other words, do nothing.

Whatever you do, remember you have the power to pick up the ball, let it lie there, or walk away.

Still not convinced that you can live through the stress of a bidding war? Check back tomorrow for a sure-fire, can’t lose, stress-free way to deal with bidding wars.

.

**the political scenario above might even have been Hillary Clinton fielding questions about her wayward husband. I just can’t recall for sure. But if it was Hillary, then the story really is about balls, and Hillary’s got a brass pair.

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heather

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

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Lenders Behaving Madly

by Heather February 27, 2010 Buyer Help

An illustration of just how ridiculous lender requirements have become, direct from an email written by a loan officer and sent to loan specialist Rob Chrisman:

“Rob - The following is an actual underwriting condition from a large wholesale lender which is known for having the best wholesale pricing for conforming loans. (As background, the borrower [...]

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Home Buyer Tax Credit, Explained

by Heather January 13, 2010 Buyer Help

(image by stock.xchng user woodsy, image ID 1066491)
This is a link to the best darn explanation of the federal home buyer credit I’ve seen to date. Includes both the $8,000 first time buyer credit and the $6,500 “move up” home buyer credit. Do you qualify? Start shopping here.
Technorati Tags: Phoenix Arizona real estate

Heather Barr [...]

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Mortgage Rates to Rise in Spring

by Heather January 12, 2010 Buyer Help

I was going to try to write a witty, engaging piece about how mortgage rates are expected to rise in the coming few weeks and months. But being witty about money is hard.
Instead, I’ve blatantly stolen this tidbit from the wonderful Kris Berg’s San Diego Home Blog (via Phoenix’s own wonderful blogging Realtor Jonathan Dalton [...]

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Is That Condo FHA Approved?

by Heather January 7, 2010 Buyer Help

Buyers using an FHA mortgage who are shopping for condos (or patio homes, or townhomes) need to be aware there’s a list of FHA-approved communities. If the community is not on the FHA-approved list, your FHA mortgage money might not be good there.
Bookmark this website and check for FHA-approved status before you fall in love [...]

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Personality goes a long way

by Chris Butterworth December 1, 2009 Buyer Help

A conversation between Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega, from the movie Pulp Fiction:
Jules: Pigs are filthy animals.  I don’t eat filthy animals.
Vincent: Yeah, but bacon tastes good.  Pork chops taste good.
Jules:  Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I’d never know ‘cause I wouldn’t eat the filthy mother-fu**ers.  Pigs sleep and root in [...]

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Special Needs?

by Heather November 11, 2009 Buyer Help

Sometimes as a buyer it’s really crucial to tell your Realtor about your special housing needs. Here are my 2 favorite examples of former buyer clients with whom I’ve worked, and their special needs:

buyers who were hyooge scuba divers and HAD to have a separate bedroom with a walk-in closet for their gear that couldn’t [...]

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Home Buyer Tax Credit Law Passed

by Heather November 8, 2009 Buyer Help

President Obama signed the Home Buyer tax credit legislation, per the reporting of the United Press International. It’s called the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009. The San Francisco Chronicle has an excellent bullet-point breakdown of the fine print of the new law. This is a partial summary…

Up to $,8000 federal tax credit [...]

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Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension Is a “Go”, Here’s Why

by Heather November 5, 2009 Buyer Help

Late yesterday the Senate passed a bill that included an extension of the Home Buyer Tax Credit. This morning, the House passed the same bill. For details of what the bill includes/excludes and ideas on whether you qualify, see our broker Jay Thompson’s PhoenixRealEstateGuy blog.
Now goes to President Obama for his signature, some expect that [...]

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Senate Approves Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension

by Heather November 4, 2009 Buyer Help

The New York Times is just now reporting that the US Senate has just voted to extend the Home Buyer Tax Credit.
There’s not much meat in the report, which was filed at 5:54pm Arizona time. It makes me wish (yet! again!) that Big Media reporters were required to state the name of the bill or [...]

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Update: Home Buyer Tax Credit

by Heather November 4, 2009 Buyer Help

It looks like the fat cats in Washington, D.C. will pull it together and extend the home buyer tax credit. But it’s really anybody’s guess. Here’s a Facebook message I sent just a few minutes ago to a friend who asked.
Q: Will the tax credit be extended?
A:  My gut says probably. Handing out money during [...]

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