What offers are being accepted?

[lulu]

Anyone have any info. on what the standard offer being accepted is right now? How much of their asking price are sellers receiving? 100%? Only 90% on average? And for price ranges, are offers currently being accepted at the low end of the range, mid or perhaps not even in the range at all? Anyone have any stats. on this??

[NeetaT]

Don’t worry about what is being accepted as an offer. Just realize that home prices in San Diego are at least 40% over-valued. I find it very arrogant on the behalf of the seller to list a property with an offer range. That seller needs to realize that it’s time to take a loss and get on with their life. I say low-ball the idiots who drove up home prices in the first place!!!!!

Have any of you ever wondered why it seems to be OK to lose money on stocks, but it’s not OK to lose money on a house. People will do anything in their power not to lose money on a house, but when it comes to stocks, they just mark it up as a nonchalant loss. What’s the difference?

[powayseller]

This post shows Standard Pacific homes were selling at 82-95% of list price, but we don’t know what the true price is if incentives are included. So the true price could well be under 80% of list price.

[IrvineRenter]

I think the difference is the scale of the loss. A stock loss won’t generally put you into bankruptcy. The housing losses we will see over the next several years will.

[Doofrat]

In my immediate area, the sales history is as follows:

Sold 02/X/2006: $610,000 1600 sq ft
Sold 07/X/2006: $644,000 1600 sq ft
Sold 10/X/2006: $512,000 1400 sq ft
Sold 10/X/2006: $482,500 1400 sq ft
Sold 11/X/2006: $485,000 1400 sq ft

The funny thing is that the unit directly connected to the last entry for $485,000 is a 1600 sq ft unit and is currently listed for $669,000. Going to Zillow, you can see that they paid $649,000 for this townhouse. So they are even trying to get their 3% commission back on the sale and trying to break even by selling it for $20,000 more than they paid.

My guess is that they will reject any offer below what they paid ($649,000) because they are already bringing a check to closing at $649,000. What other choice do they have except to reject offers below what they paid?

I can’t believe they haven’t taken it off the market yet, but I’d guess they’ll reduce the price to $649,000 and then give up and take it off the market until next spring when everybody realizes that it’s a good time to buy.

[NeetaT]

Does anyone really lose money on a house? Think of it this way; a person buys a house for $500K and they sell it for $300K, oh by the way a $500K house in San Diego is really worth only $300,000 if you consider the average household income to be commensurate with the price of a home. It may look as though the person lost $200k, but we all have to live somewhere. So the person takes the $300k and buys his or her next home. The person still owes $500k, but still holds on to a comparable property. The good news is that the avaricious state can now collect only the property tax burden on $300k not $500k. People may laugh at my analogy, but if you circumscribe it to a situation where the homeowner owns one home for the purpose of living in it and maybe even paying it off someday, it makes sense. Remember; when prices fall they all fall in a given location. If one $500k house falls to $300k so do the rest of the $500k houses.

[NeetaT]

One persons loss is another persons gain.

[an]

NeetaT, you can’t sell a $500k house that you still owe $500k on for $300k unless you bring $200k to the table. So your whole argument is flawed. You can’t take that $300k and buy another house cuz that $300k is not yours, it’s the bank. That $300k goes to pay the $500k mortgage. So yeah, you lost $200k.

[Doofrat]

Why not buy a house, and sell it to your brother for $1. Then have your brother buy a house and sell it to you for $1. Then you’ll both have houses for $1 and can pay them off for the price of a small slurpee.

[SD Realtor]

Hi Lulu –

I think your question is better answered if you can be a bit more specific about the type of property and location. Try to specify new homes (from the builder) verses resale, and condo verses detached home. Also it is really important to note the area. Do you really care if you are shopping for homes in Carlsbad but UTC condos are selling for 10% below asking price? See what I am saying?

Also contrary to what alot of us on this site are hoping, the actual numbers of pendings did move up in the past month so there are buyers out there. I still believe better deals are available in the future.

Finally, I am not sure how much stock I would take in the sold pricing that is reported at all. Reason being is that what is not reflected in the sold price are credits back to the buyer for repairs or possible closing cost crediting.

From previous posts I know you are thinking about buying. The key for you is that if you do see a place you like, negotiate in a shrewd manner but show geniune interest and tact. Note this is true whether the home is a resale home or being offered by a developer as a new home. Your realtor can help you come in with a good strategy to save you money and make the lowest offer possible. Don’t be afraid to ask for a commission rebate, and DEFINITELY do not be afraid to walk away.

FYI on two escrows I currently have, the first is about 5% below list and the second is about 2% below list. They are in San Carlos and Lemon Grove respectively.

SD Realtor

[NeetaT]

asianautica,

I guess I was referring to cash sales. That is how I bought my home and plan on doing so for my next. I am glad you responded to my write-up. You made me realize why home prices are not falling as fast as they should be. I don’t know why I did not think about what you said in the first place.

[sdappraiser]

SD Realtor,

Nice to see you take your fiduciary responsibility seriously. You’ve advertised who you are on this board, now you are disclosing probable contract sales prices on escrows that have NOT closed as well as what city they are located in? Easy enough to figure that one out.

It appears you have violated your Realtor Oath, I’ll have to ask for the pin back.

[sdrealtor]

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

[SD Realtor]

Point well taken and I apologize for that. I am simply trying to help people out.

SD Realtor

[jimklinge]

There is no realtor oath about not disclosing the sales price prior to close of escrow. That’s an old wife’s tale. Hang onto your pin.

It doesn’t hurt the seller to disclose the sales price. If it falls out of escrow, nobody is saying that the seller will sell it again for that low. For those listing agents out there, you know that’s true – they usually hold out for more the second time around!

Jim the Realtor

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