[quote=no_such_reality]…There-in is problem in our current marketplace. The pool of people willing to pay premium price for fully gloss coated greatly outweighs the price of those willing to deal with good enough.
And hence, people that want to live there while they fix it are being out bid by people that want to flip it, because the people that want it fixed right now are outbidding all of them.[/quote]
I don’t think flippers will offer more than costs of acquisition + cost-of-flip + cost of sale + “reasonable profit” (15%+??). Because most of them are looking for a very quick turnaround (to minimize their carrying costs), they have to go by the current sold comps in the area when making offers, even though prices (in general) may be rising.
In any case, prices are rising at different rates depending upon micro-area.
This leaves a window for joe6p buyer to bid a little more than a flipper would and get the property … IF they have 20% down and can close in a timely manner.
nsr, your (emphasized stmt, above) is what I’ve been trying to tell lower-tier buyers here (ESP FTB’s) since before the holidays. I’ve been telling them to cease being “part of the problem.” In essence, I’ve been saying:
“Be pro-active, realistic, and make offers contingent upon a VERY TIMELY physical inspection. When your inspector in escrow doesn’t turn up any structural damage AND the repairs they turn up total under 1.5% of the sales price, just suck it up, remove the contingency and deal with it. If you throw the listing back to the market, YOU are back to square one, which could get more expensive by the month. The property you just threw back will sell to someone else, in very short order.
Even if the repairs are 1.5% to 3% of the purchase price, don’t ask for the WHOLE amount in concession from the seller in your counter-offer. If you really want the property, get an expert estimate (ex:. new furnace), present it to the seller and start out by asking them to reduce their accepted price by 70% of the cost of it.
All major cities are getting older and older and many of them have run out of land around their perimeters for new subdivisions.
And you really don’t want to shop 50+ miles away from work (to make offers on *newer* construction in your price range), as getting one of these properties will eventually make your life miserable.
As a lower-tier buyer (incl FTB’s), you can’t have everything. Get as much as you can for the price you can pay and move forward.
If you, as a lower-tier buyer, are stuck in a “dream” of “delusions of grandeur” for your modest price range (new appls, new floor coverings, granite, etc), you are looking at a “flipped house” which will likely get multiple offers and thus, it’s asking price will be run up, very likely beyond your price range.”
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Flippers and owner-occupant joe6p serial rehabbers didn’t get where they are today by “sweating the small stuff” at the offer/counter-offer and acceptance/escrow stages. SFR buyers in the $320K-$400K price range can no longer afford to either . . . that is, IF they actually want to own their own home in SD County ASAP.
