Once is a fluke,
Twice is coincidence,
Thrice is a conspiracy
Well, just had my third situation where the owner of a property wanted a written offer before they would show the property. Is this becoming the uber-version of pre-approval (which I have) for this current market? Annoy everyone on the buyer’s side writing offers just get in the door?
Seems like a huge waste of time for everyone. Haven’t brokers heard the words: open house? This is up there with requiring an accepted offer to get condo financial info.
I wonder how many of the properties in MLS that are listed as “contingent” are contingent because people are just writing offers to get in the door. I’ve seen quite a few bounce back and forth between Active and Contingent about 5 times.
It’s common when there are difficult/uncooperative tenants in the property. It’s a way of limiting showings to the most motivated and committed buyers. Usually seller isn’t doing this by choice.
It takes all of a few minutes for your realtor to write up an offer and then write contingent upon showing. They can have you docusign it…that takes another 3 minutes.
If the price is good, then it’s worth. I love these situations as a buyer. I’m willing to go the extra mile to get the best deals. Most of the time it’s a waste of time, but you never know. We actually had an excepted offer on a Short Sale prior to seeing a property. In the listing, the house was supposed to be upgraded “no expense spared”. It was the least upgraded house in that tract. The eventual buyer still got a great deal, it just wasn’t what we wanted.
I agree with SD Realtor. Also, look at the bright side, you’ll have less competition and may be able to get the house for a lower price than you normally would. (Because this silly policy will naturally repel many potential buyers)
In crazy markets like this one, those who go the extra mile will usually get the home they want quicker. Those who whine and complain will have plenty to complain about while they miss out.
There is not a right or wrong here. Buyers make their own rules as to how much they want to pursue a listing. If you don’t go look at the home, then you don’t know if you missed out or not.
Try not to forget the seller does get to make the rules about showing their home… after all it is their home. If you don’t wanna deal with it, then don’t go see it.
The question is as follows: a lot of offers require a good faith deposit. What are the chances that a seller/scammer will deposit the check, drag their feet on returning the money if you don’t like the property, and say “see you in court, I dare you” if you complain?
That is fine, your agent writes up the offer, you submit the offer with a photocopy of a deposit check. If your offer is accepted you go see the home. If you want to move forward then you go to escrow and deposit the check. Once again, you seem to have some fundamental issues that honestly will lead to you losing out on opportunities. I do understand that it is always easier to stick to your guns and complain. Nobody says the system is fair or works. However learning how to take advantage of the system usually leads to success.
So basically it’s OK to drop offers on 25 properties just to be able to go see them and get your foot in the door? That seems grossly unfair to the sellers, but I guess if people expect it, I’d be fine with doing it.
(Not that I’ve had much of a problem being shown what I wanted to see thus far.)
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