I don’t understand the term, “buyer fatigue.” I had never heard of it until I read the term here.
Let us examine the possible causes of “fatigued-buyer syndrome.”
If they are actually a perpetual shopper who never makes any offers, then they aren’t really a “buyer.” They are a “shopper” who is undoubtedly trying to familiarize themselves with what’s on offer (not using their agent to his/her fullest advantage).
If they are a prospective buyer who makes offer(s) (lowball?) which repeatedly get rejected in favor of other offers offering better terms or more money or both, and they refuse to accept or counter any counter-offers presented to them, then they are undoubtedly “shopping” in the wrong area(s) and wasting their time (AND their agent’s time).
If they are prospective buyers who have not been properly pre-approved for the size mortgage they need which is enough to consummate a deal on any property they make offers on, then again, they have chosen to waste theirs and their agent’s time.
If they are consistently looking at properties and in areas where they know they cannot qualify to purchase in, that is another self-made time waster. If they DON’T KNOW that they are unqualified to make offers in the area(s) they are shopping in, then they (and their agents) have not properly done their due diligence prior to beginning a house hunt and thus, are wasting everyone’s time.
If they have an “accepted” (lol) offer on a SS in which they have been waiting for months to hear if the deal is going to fly, they have consciously chosen to deal with the deadbeats they are dealing with (instead of “traditional” or institutional sellers) and so deserve whatever “fatigue” that comes with that territory. If their offer did not end up being accepted by sellers’ lender(s), then they, at all times, were free to shop elsewhere and terminate the SS escrow at any time so have no one to blame but themselves that they don’t yet have a consummated deal to show for all their “effort.”
And I don’t want to hear the excuse, “I’m `fatigued’ and so will suspend my search for now (or indefinitely) because every property I wanted (to make an offer on) already had all-cash offer(s).”
The key phrase here is “…every property I wanted…”
If all the properties you wanted were sold to all-cash buyers and you didn’t have access to as much cash as they did and/or needed a mortgage for purchase money, then those properties were located in the wrong area for you or their condition was too good for you … or both.
Again, self-inflicted “fatigue” … all just whining.
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My gut feeling is that “fatigued buyers” (IF they actually exist) create their OWN fatigue. REALISTIC, PRE-APPROVED buyers with extremely knowledgeable agents don’t get to the point where they become “fatigued” because they have already made a deal, likely closed it and moved in.
“Dearth of inventory” be damned.[/quote]
BG,
There are plenty of examples of people who did all of the things you’ve mentioned above (low-balling, “shopping” for years in particular areas, refusing to bid against over-eager buyers with low-down mortgages or too much cash, etc.). Many of these posters eventually managed to buy in their #1 areas at, OR BELOW, non/pre-bubble prices that they had been comfortably willing to pay.
The only reason these buyers were able to make these good deals is because they’d spent YEARS studying their target markets, familiarizing themselves with particular properties and areas, and studying the causes/effects of the bubble mentality. It was because they waited for so long that they were able to be the winners instead of the losers in the housing bubble game. They were able to do this because they did NOT listen to the vast majority of realtors out there who were insisting that people buy now, or be priced out…FOREVER!
We are still very much in bubble territory. With interest rates and housing inventory at/near historic lows (with both more likely to go up from here, rather than down), this is NOT the time to buy.
