Buyer Agent Commission

[photopress:int_auction.jpg,thumb,alignright]I was reading Greg’s newest article on Buyer Agent Commissions and thought it might add more information to both his readers and ours, to run a “Point Counter Point” kind of discussion. So I have his article up side by side and will touch on some of the points where I either disagree with Greg, or have something to add.

Greg: “Want to foment a revolution in residential real estate?…(buyers just say) these five simple words: ‘How much do you charge?’…Historically, buyers have not understood that they, too, pay for representation”.

Greg, while the concept is indeed “revolutionary” in one sense, I find that most consumers would like we in the industry, to lead the revolution and win that battle for them, rather than being involved in the process of that change in the industry. Of course here in the Seattle area we have Redfin leading the charge, by revealing that there is a Buyer Agent Fee.

Sometimes Greg and I shake our heads at the shenanigans of the industry that pretend there really is no Buyer Agent Fee. Buy how can Greg expect the buyer consumers to lead this needed change in the industry, when most buyers NEVER even see the fee? Does anyone know a public search site that shows the Buyer Agent fee to the consumer? Does anyone’s mls system print the Buyer Agent Fee on the client version of the property printout? Has anyone seen the Buyer Agent fee show on the Buyer’s Closing Statement when the transaction closes?

How is a buyer supposed to even verify that the agreed upon amount, is what the buyer agent in the end collected? The commission paid to both the Seller’s Agent AND the Buyer’s Agent, only shows on the seller’s closing statement and NOT on the buyer’s closing statement. “Oh, yeah…I charged you ten bucks . You want to SEE it? Oh, sorry, that’s a seller privacy issue. You can’t see the actual fee charged. Just trust me on that ”

I’m not going to go into the “chicken or the egg” debate agents like to play with regard to who “actually” pays the commission, because it truely is purely subtrefuge. I often wonder how they’ve gotten away with it for all of these years, but then we really do know how they’ve gotten away with it for all of these years, don’t we? Because buyers really like the idea that it’s free and don’t want to sign an agreement to the lower amount, because they really don’t want to sign an agreement with an agent at all…even if it does save them money. They want the lower amount with no strings attached. Not saying they are wrong, and I actually honor that. But let’s not pretend this isn’t a two way street.

I don’t like Greg’s answer either, because he makes it looks like the buyer pays the seller’s agent fee too, and that’s just a pendulum swing to the subtrefuge, which doesn’t work either. Seller pays his agent and buyer pays his agent, is the only rational answer, regardless, so each knows the cost for their side and negotiates their side and sees their side at the end.

Greg says: “We baby buyers, (by) telling them tender, loving lies: ‘Buyer representations is free.’ ‘I’m paid by the seller.’ ‘My services cost you nothing.'” Truth is, buyers really do like these lies up to a point. They really do like to believe that is is free and the seller is paying it. Buyers like to “receive money from the agent” like the Redfin cashback. It’s a whole lot more fun to believe that they are “getting back” $20,000 than to understand that they are paying $10,000. They are not really getting back anything, they are financing their cash credit, if they take it in cash or cash credits. To truly save something, they have to negotiate a sale price with the seller and AFTER the fact, reduce the purchase price by the negotiated buyer agent fee difference. Otherwise they are including the full fee and they are paying it with interest for 30 years! They are borrowing it from the lender, not “saving” it.

Greg says: “If you’re buying a new build, the builder may be paying “your” agent a huge commission. You should negotiate to make sure that you receive any funds over a reasonable rate”.

Well, of course, it does NOT only apply to new build. Here’s my comment on new build though. I just got an email while I was writing this that said “$5,000 bonus on last 5 units!” I deleted the email after mentally translating it to say, “We’ll pay you an extra $5,000 if you will help us get rid of the five last dogs that no one seems to want.”

And last but not least, Greg says: “…you will not get to a more reasonable buyer’s agent commission without mastring those five little words: “How much do you charge?” (That question seller’s have known to ask forever because sellers understand that they are hiring a Realtor and it isn’t free – paraphrased).

But Greg does not give any advice regarding what to respond when the agent replies: “What do I charge? Why nothing! It’s Free! The Seller pays it! Greg, if you want them to ask the question, you have have to give them a little more advice than simply asking the question that will initiate the response of free, that we both know many will get. Let’s have a follow up piece titled, “What do you say to a buyer agent who tells you his services are FREE?”

Beginning the Home Buying Process – Part 1

[photopress:matt.jpg,thumb,alignright]My friend “Matt” is a first time buyer beginning his home search/buying process. That is not his picture, or his real name, of course. By giving him anonimity, I can take him through the steps here on RCG, so that others can follow along with us. Think of it like a board game. The “Matt” game. This will be a series that will run up until “Matt” closes escrow, and possibly beyond into his first month or two as a homeowner, and the surprises that may come up after he moves in.

Given a “blog” is a web log, it seems appropriate for a real estate blog to offer a log of real people in the home buying process. So lets log and blog the adventures of “Matt” and his home buying process. I’d love for someone to turn it into a board game at the same time. We can give it to potential homebuyers. Maybe Galen or Robbie. It could be like the game of “Life” and people who are thinking about buying a home, can buy the game and “play” before stepping out into unknown territory.

START: “I’m thinking to buy a home this fall. Likely an (x area) townhome just outside the (x) growth zone. Any advice on what I should be reading/doing to get up to speed for home-hunting?”

Now I am going to make this as transparent as I possibly can, without giving away the identity of “Matt” or the location of the home search, for obvious reasons.

STEP 1: The first step is the most extensive one, as it combines many factors. Home Price, which is determined by monthly payment affordability, cash needed to close, and commission to be paid to the Buyer’s Agent. This is all one big first step, as the Commission Negotiation affects the “cash to close” issue. So let’s do that first.

The target purchase price, as already pre-conceived by the word “townhome”, and specified area in the email, is $295,000 to $495,000. For the purpose of this Step, let’s assume that “Matt” has in mind to purchase something for around $375,000, that he is thinking his monthly payment is going to be about $2,200 and that he has saved $20,000 toward the home purchase. This may or may not be the case, but let’s start with that assumption for now.

The ball is in my court. Since I know that “Matt” works in the Technology Industry, and I believe he is a first time buyer, I have already picked up the phone and called Jennifer Chi at First Tech Credit Union. The number one issue is, do they still have that fabulous first time buyer program that I have not used for awhile, and if so, what is the current interest rate, downpayment requirement, and cost for that program. I am waiting for a call back. Left a message. My expectation is that they require little or no money down, have total lender costs of about $600, and the rate is about 5.75 %. Let’s see how close I am, if in fact that program is even still available.

Some people think the first step is for the buyer to go to “the lender”, without consulting the agent. Not so. As the agent I first want to determine who might be the “best” lender for this particular client, as I have already done. Of course the client can do whatever they want over there on the side, and check out all kinds of lenders and loan programs. But that does not relieve me of the responsibility to seek out the best and special programs, especially when I am already aware of their existince, and the likelihood that he probably qualifies for it.

Next on my “To Do” list is to Negotiate the Commission. Since I already know “Matt”, I don’t have to stick him in my car and interview him to determine the fee. Based on a sale price of $375,000, I would not normally negotiate the fee up front, as in that price range, I need to reserve monies for repairs and other issues. But since we will likely be looking at newer townhomes and he gets that “special friend” treatment, let’s establish a flat fee of $6,000, which should give him an extra $5,250.00 to spend, and still leave me enough to fix a few things and get him a nice housewarming gift 🙂

This is an important first step because if any sellers are offering less than 3%, it becomes “Matt’s problem” and not mine. Everyone makes such a huge big deal about Negotiating Buyer Agent Fees. Look. It is that simple. Matt didn’t even have to put in his $.02. LOL. Of course Matt has other options, but that is my offer and he can take it or leave it or negotiate it back at me. We’ll see what he does.

That’s all we can do until we get that call back from First Tech Credit Union, as we cannot determine the price of property to look for, until we know the monthly payment he can afford, which we cannot know until we know the interest rate and cash requirements for that particular loan, which is the best, if they have it and he can qualify for it. More to come…

Should You Pay More For THIS House?

[photopress:polly.jpg,thumb,alignright]When determining how to structure an offer on a property, one of the key considerations is, “How scarce a commodity is this home?” How scarce it is to you, depends on the parameters you have set, and why you like this particular home, which varies from person to person.

If the property is unique because it has the largest lot in the area, then the seller is correct in putting a premium on this feature of the home. But, if why you are buying it is NOT because it has a large lot, then maybe you should not be the one to pay the “justifiable premium”. A justifiable premium for the seller, is not necessarily a justifiable premium for the buyer.

Often the seller will dramatically highlight their “premium” feature, such as a large lot, when they should not. I remember showing a home, with the owner in the home, and they kept raving about how huge their lot was. I could tell that the buyer had totally tuned out and had no interest in the property, but we couldn’t leave because the owner was going on and on about the size of the lot. When we got outside the buyer said, “Not me! I’m not spending my life maintaining the biggest lot in town!” I asked if he would have been worried about that just by viewing the property, without the seller’s influence. He said no, but now that I have this picture in my head of spending all of my weekends mowing the grass and maintaining the landscaping, AND paying MORE for the house for the “privelege” of it sucking up all of my free time, I just can’t see myself in that home. Otherwise, I may have bought it, but let’s just get out of here.

So the seller may indeed “deserve” more money for his house than anyone else in town, because he has the largest lot. But that does not mean that every buyer should offer that premium, in fact some will discount it, for the very reason the seller is raising the price. The buyer may deduct for the extra maintenance of the larger lot, while at the same time the seller is adding a premium for the extra land.

The photo above is in reference to “our Polly” who had the best question in the month of August. Before responding to a counter offer from the seller she asked, “What is the likelihood that you could find us a similar home within the next 60 days?” I was knocked out by this fabulous question! If only two of those have sold in the last year, then the liklihood is slim to none. If 40 of them have sold in the last six months, then you can play hardball with the seller. Excellent question to ask while in the middle of negotiations.

More Bed Hopping with the Competition

  1. Matt Goyer, of Urbnlivn fame, just accepted a position at Redfin. I wonder if he’ll keep up urbnlivn, or quit in favor of the Redfin blog like Rob. Just reading that article about Rob reminds me how much things have changed in the past six months…
  2. Anthony Allan put together a nice post on five steps to Realtor nirvana.
  3. Tim shows the Seattle Bubble is more popular than Rain City Guide! And wants a front-page link from RCG in the same post! I like Merv’s approach to giving site stats better (i.e. keep me out of it!) 🙂
  4. Meanwhile, the classic over-achiever (who happens to be a damn good writer) follows Tim’s lead today and shows me up by taking my idea (list of 10) and doing it better
  5. Niki let me know about the massive updates that he just unrolled at HomeThinking. He’s got a pretty comprehensive database of sold listings and my understanding is that he is attempting to get people to review agents for as many transactions as possible. It might sound unintuitive for agents to support a site that allows users to comment on them, but Nike (and Mike of Altos Research) seem convinced. Niki also mentioned a bunch of interesting features including a GeoRSS feed of his data so that it can be syndicated far and wide.
  6. I also noticed that HomeThinking is syndicating Real Time Pricing Trends from Altos Research in selected markets. Here’s their chart for Seattle:
  7. Prices for SEATTLE

  8. Osman writes about an interesting “green” development in Aurora, CO that would “encompass nearly 3,000 housing units, 1.7 million SQFT of retail, and 2.8 million SQFT of office space” if fully built out!
  9. Remembering Katrina.
  10. Google now allows you to download and print out old books that they’ve scanned from some of the nations largest libraries. Very cool. Not only that, but they recently introduced a news archive search that has scanned 200 years worth of news. Wow!
  11. Not only is Noah is off enjoying a trip in Europe at this moment, but he should be officially mawwied by now. Congratulations!

Negotiating the Buyer Agent Fee

[photopress:swan.gif,thumb,alignright] Greg Swann over at Bloodhoundblog wrote a lengthy piece on his feelings with regard to changes that are needed in the real estate industry.

I happen to be writing an offer as I write this, actually waiting for a buyer client to come over and sign it, who was the first client with whom I negotiated the fee at first contact over coffee. That is not my normal scenario of negotiating the buyer agent fee, as I generally like to see at least three homes, of my choice, with the buyer before having the discussion regarding commissions.

I like to see how they look at property, what types of things bother them, how many and what kinds of questions they ask, etc… Just as I need to see a house before I know what I would charge the seller, I have to have some idea of the level of difficulty involved with the buyer attaining his objectives, before I can establish a reliable fee base.

So while I do not totally agree with Greg that a buyer should, or even can, negotiate a fee before seeing any homes, his article is well worth reading. I plan to read it again more thoroughly after this contract is signed 🙂

I will mention, that this particular client and I renogotiated the intital fee we came up with over coffee. So breaking my rule of not looking at houses first, was not a good thing. Having some experience with the agent and vice versa, is the best way to establish a fee that will work for all involved.

Simplifying the buying process

5 years ago on a plane to Hawaii I started writing a Buyer Book to help me when working with my buyers. I couldn’t find a good one that made sense of our local market and spelled out what needs to be answered before a buyer even starts looking. I have a development partner in Hawaii and have good memories of writing this book, sipping Kona coffee from his sister’s plantation and eating Orange Bread on his incredible water view patio. Unfortunately, I had to come home and it took me three more months to finish in the rain.

Why did I write the book? Because I wanted buying a house to be fun and as simple as possible and buyers hate seeing houses they don’t really like. After all, how do you decide where to live and what to buy, if you’ve never been asked the questions that would get you a good working answer. So, after 10 years as an agent and starting out like all agents do by picking out 30 houses or so that “might” work for the buyer, narrowing it down to what I considered the best 10, showing those, making a buying decision and then the “buyer’s remorse” because they wondered what else was out there.

Given that I’m mostly an analytical person, I looked for the “kiss” in the purchasing process and came up with what has been unfailingly the most basic questions that must be examined before you even get into a car with a buyer. So here’s how I work: the buyers read the book and agree to independently (partners separately) fill out a questionaire that tracks with the book before the first 2 hour consulting session which is usually on the morning before going out to buy a home. Those 7 anwers are what I springboard from in the search. I have a picnic lunch prepared and we are now looking at only homes that really do meet their requirments. No buyer’s remorse since they’ve narrowed down the search themselves. The know that if they see a sign on a home that they didn’t look at, that it simply did not meet their requirements. These buyers are also prequalified and we know their housing price limit before our meeting.

People buy with the following criteria, whether they know it or not and buyers can use this criteria to find their home: (not necessarily in this order)

1. What importance is their choice of schools (I once had a young couple, he said it wasn’t important, she said it was, and she announced at the buyer consult that she was pregnant. I left the room :))

2. What importance is the commute: I usually hear 20-45 minutes (unless it’s a microsoft buyer), so then we talk about what hours the commuter works to determine how far out they can live, keeping in mind the school parameters.

3. What importance is a development with CC&R’s vs one without. I explain that although they might not want control on the color they paint their own home, but do they want an airplane parked in the front yard like I saw one day in a Parkland neighborhood near Tacoma. This is an extreme example, I know

4. How important is yard size. These days with all the dogs, many buyers think they ‘need’ a large yard, which leads me to the next question.

5.What importance is the age of the home. Most 30 somethings hate the home they grew up in and they almost always hate the splits. However if you want a large yard, but want a new house, then you’ll probably be paying 3 times what your budget allows, so if the large yard is really really important, then be prepared for 15-20 year old home or older. You have to buy a home where the land was developed before the local jurisdictions started enforcing federally mandated land use restrictions requiring greenbelts or common areas. The result of the federal legislation is that by 1999, all municipalites had to come into complaince with new land use rules. Over a 10 year period, all municipalities had to ensure that all developments must have a very large portion (40-60%) of a development set aside as communtiy area. The latest municipality that I know of to come into compliance was Montlake Terrace, which barely made the 10 year limit. For the developers to make enough profit to make the development feasible, the remaining land had to be divided by the same number of lots, making the lots much much smaller.

I’ve done my own casual research on how the public sees this land use change, and when I ask customers which they’d rather have, large yards or community spaces, they overwhelmingly chose community spaces. So, though we don’t like it, we don’t like it less than we like the new communities with all their parks and community feel (Ergo, the popularity of Issaquah Highlands).

6. The next question is how important is the style. In other words, do you hate splits, do you like to see alot of volume and want a vaulted living room, or does that mean you have to just heat the empty space. Do you have to have a rambler, and depending on budget, are you prepared for townhouse or condo living.

And last but not least

7. Do you want to have a house in complete move in condition or can you do some of the work yourselves after closing.

These 7 questions have been all that I’ve needed to narrow down the search. My buyers fill out the questionaire first before our 2 hour meeting, then armed with those parameters, I have a pretty good idea where the buyers will end up. We pick out thier own houses online and then with a picnic lunch, out we go to preview the properties that they picked. Normally, they buy on this first day, since we have narrowed down their search together and they almost never have buyer’s remorse since they pretty much scoured the enitre market themselves with me just acting as coach.

This has worked great for the last 5 years. My buyers love it and are amazed at how you really can create a structure out of the 6500 or so listings online. AND be right about it!

Lease Options – Investor, Tenant, Agent: Win/Win/Win?

Within the segment of consumers who want to be homeowners, there’s a subset who cannot qualify for a loan, and will therefore not be a homeowner until they can. Typically, these folks have a credit profile that precludes them from qualifying for a loan that can work within the parameters of their income and debt. In the past, the only alternative to buying was to continue to rent while working to fix credit issues, and decrease debt (and if income happened to increase along the way – a bonus).

Today, this segment of folks have the ‘Rent to Own’ option available to them. Popular with conservative investors who want the advantages of appreciating investment property, but without the hassles of rental income, the Lease-Option is an arrangement whereby an investor leases a property to a tenant, who is also extended an option to purchase the property within a certain time frame (two years is typical in the Puget Sound market). For an investor, the Lease-Option playbook is extensive – there are multiple approaches to this type of investment.

However, a program that seems to be growing in popularity is the ‘Pick Your House’ program that agents offer potential homeowners. The scenario the agent shares with the tenant is that they can pick the house in which they want to live (as long as the price of the home – rather, the monthly costs associated with the home – falls within the tenant’s budget). The agent then finds an investor to purchase the property. The rent is structured to cover all the investor’s monthly costs (PITI). Additionally, there is typically an option fee that the tenant pays to the investor up front. I’ve seen it fall into the 1% of property market value. Though non-refundable, this fee is applied as a credit toward the purchase price should the tenant exercise the option. Sometimes, a small portion of the monthly rent is applied toward the purchase as a credit as well. The option price is calculated under certain assumptions (such as 8% annual appreciation), and the price therefore might be set at 10% over current market value at the end of two years. This allows the tenant to capture some equity upon exercise, assuming appreciation is higher. Additionally, the tenant is contractually obligated to manage small repairs (where a renter would just call the landlord), with the investor taking care of larger repairs (in excess of some agreed upon dollar amount).

It’s a good way for a potential home buyer to get his foot in the door – as a matter of law, they have an interest in the property with the option (this can and should be recorded with the county to protect the tenant’s interest).

The option can be lost if the tenant defaults on the terms of the lease, or if he chooses not to exercise the option. Here’s the kicker – I’ve read/heard that the default rate for lease option tenants hovers near 70%. The biggest reason seems to be that bad habits are hard to break. If the tenant is counseled correctly, the lease period is an opportunity to repair credit, pay off debt, and position the tenant to qualify for a loan needed to exercise the option. The reality is that tenants don’t pay their rent, continue to over-extend themselves, or decide upon a different direction with their life that requires a move.

Unscrupulous investors and scammers will take advantage of these tenants and pull the option from underneath them for the smallest deviation from the lease terms. In fact, Lease Options were outlawed in Texas due to the scams. However, if the investor enters the transaction and deals with tenants fairly, it’s a win/win for the investor and the tenant/optionee.

I am wondering about the ethics of an agent working with a tenant to pick a house, then bringing in an investor to purchase it. At first glance, it seems that there is a clear conflict of interest. Isn’t there? Maybe not. The tenant is informed and gives consent to the process from the start. The agent is there to help find the home, but the investor is actually purchasing it. However, since an option – and therefore an interest in the property – is involved, does this create a technical conflict of interest? The investor is more concerned with the profile of the tenant, and with making sure that the numbers work for the transaction. The tenant is more like a client to the agent. They are driving around with the agent, evaluating neighborhoods, and picking the home, subject to investor approval.

Are ‘Pick your Own’ Lease Option programs a win/win/win for the tenant (who may successfully purchase the home by exercising the option), the investor (who gets a fixed return assuming an exercised option) and the agent (who gets the commission from the transaction)? A fourth party, adding another ‘win’, is the mortgage broker who may very well finance the deal for the investor, and create a relationship with the tenant that leads to financing the exercise of the option down the road.

Full disclosure – as an investor, I have purchased four properties with tenants who had options to purchase. However, none of them were acquired in the ‘pick your own’ method discussed above. I acquired the contracts by paying an assignment fee.

No Credits "For Repairs" Allowed

This excerpt from a recent comment to an old article of mine, deserves more than “comment back” attention.

“we said we would take $5,000 for…repairs…The addendum was signed by both seller and buyer….Our lender wanted us to take the word repairs out of the contact, but we wouldn’t do it, so our loan fell through…’

Lenders do not want to lend out money for future repairs to a home, nor do they want to finance properties that need repairs. Let’s say a house needs a new roof and the cost of that roof is $7,500. Agents cannot write a contract with an addendum that says “Seller to credit Buyer $7,500 for a new roof” and expect the sale to close. Nor can the lender simply say “remove that addendum”, as if the buyer is supposed to pay the same price without a new roof or the money to buy a new roof.

Clearly this situation has come up several times in my career. Most recently, the roof was OK, but was two layers of composite over a wood shake roof, meaning at time of replacement all three layers would have to come off. Also, since wood shake roofs do not have sheathing, the new roof would have to include all new components and not just new shingles. The owner agreed to “pay” for most of the new roof and the buyer “agreed to pay” for a portion of the new roof. The new roof was installed by the seller prior to closing, and the sale price was increased to include the buyer’s share of the roof cost. Excellent resolution as the lender financed a house with a brand new roof. Everyone is happy.

Another good and often used solution, if the buyer wants to take a credit and pick and install their own roof, is for the buyer to take a credit “toward closing costs”, They simply use the money they were going to use to pay closing costs, to put on a new roof. It’s just a replacement of these monies for those monies. It satisfies the lender, as they will usually allow a credit toward closing costs, but not for repairs. As long as the appraiser doesn’t “call” the roof and require it to be done before closing, the buyer can get the monies this way.

So is Denise “bad” to refuse to take the word “repairs” out of the addendum? Or are the agents (if there were in fact agents involved) “bad” for writing and accepting an addendum in the first place, that they should have known would cause the loan to fail?

It is no surprise to me that a lender would not fund a loan that included a $5,000 credit “for repairs”. It is worth noting here, so that others do not write or accept addendums that offer credits for repairs, that send up red flags to the lender that the house is not in good condition. Perhaps it was a For Sale By Owner that Denise purchased without the assistance of agents. So to For Sale by Owners and private individuals buying from For Sale by Owners. and attorneys who assist in transactions without agent involvement, please note that generally speaking, a lender will not fund a loan with a repair credit, especially if there is little or no downpayment.

Would you lie for God?

Yesterday’s theme was PreFab, today I’m back to simply providing links to 10 interesting real estate conversations…

  1. Prosper is an online marketplace for people to lend money to other people. Shaun has been playing with Prosper and has some interesting observations.
  2. I don’t agree with Mark’s conclusions, but I think he makes an interesting case that a good time to “upgrade” is in a down market. (via Steph)
  3. For those looking to improve things before they sell, Rory provides some great home improvement links.
  4. If you are going to be upgrading (up market or down), you’d be wise to follow Noah’s advice and sell first!
  5. Will the number of sold homes rise in August as Bill suggests? But I sincerely doubt it.
  6. Todd, since you asked… My take is that if you are going to change domains, you want to do it sooner than later. You’ve still got lots and lots of growth left in your site, but the longer you wait, the harder it will get. Even better, consider getting a hosted version of WordPress that you can put under your own domain. Many hosts have made it so that there is a “one button” install of wordpress and they even manage the upgrades on the backend. (WordPress.org has a list of their “preferred” hosts.) In the long run, this will definitely give you the most flexibility with things like video/podcasts and stat tracking.
  7. Jim’s thinking he wants a sideblog plugin… I’m thinking just take notes and when you get to 10, hit publish. Have you noticed? 🙂
  8. Fran is good for providing a useful tip every few days… Today it is about the importance of the buyer walkthrough.
  9. Jay Thompson (of AZ) gives us a “pick of the week” that includes one hell of a house!
  10. Larry Cragun tells us to watch out for real estate transactions involving religious institutions. Some people are more than happy to lie for God.

I’m actually shocked at the number of emails these lists have generated. Don’t people know I have a job? 😉

Don't Outbid Yourself

[photopress:stop.jpg,thumb,alignright]It is time to use Escalation Clauses in reverse. Many, if not most of my clients, were previously working with another agent. Some have explained that they were not happy with the fact that the agent was always, and without exception, recommending that they offer full price, with an escalation clause over the asking price. While this may be a sure way to insure that you get the property, you may at the same time be outbidding yourself. While over the past few years, buyers have used escalation clauses to WIN the house, it is time to use them in reverse, to protect yourself against overpaying for a property.

Recently I have seen a couple of these “Seller will not look at offers until…” backfiring to where the seller has no offers on that stated date. By requiring buyers to wait a week or so before the seller will look at the buyer’s offer ,and by pricing the property too high at the same time, the seller ends up “A day late and a dollar too high”. Just because “everyone is doing it” doesn’t mean that *you* can do it, and get away with it. You meaning the seller in that context.

Now that the market is winding down a bit, will we see an end to escalation clauses? I hope not. It is time to shift gears and use them in reverse.

Let’s say the seller is asking $530,000. Instead of putting $530,000 as your offer with a cap of $550,000, you might want to offer $500,000 with a cap of $530,000. Many falsely assume that if a property has many offers, that the property was underpriced. Clearly not so. Some who have made offers at full price or better with an even higher cap, have found themselves paying full price or better, even if they end up being the only offer on the table at the end of the “seller will not look at offers until….” timeframe.

No one can predict at this time of year if the “sluggishness” is seasonal, or a sign that the market is turning. Even during the period where it seemed prices were just shooting to “the sky’s the limit”, there are periods of sluggishness. Periods of sluggishness can be as simple as many, many agents are away on vacation (August). Many, many buyers don’t want to buy what happens to be for sale (Halloween through January 2). The period from now until early next year, with the exception of a “spurt” in September, is always a slower period with no way to predict what will happen in “high Season” (January through July).

I do know this. It is a very bad time for a seller to be “off” on his condition and asking price. It is a very bad time for buyers to assume that just because a seller will not look at offers until next week, that the seller is going to get multiple offers. During the time that you are waiting for the seller to be ready to look at your offer or respond to your offer, pay close attention. If the house has any inherent negatives, particularly with regard to location, do not outbid yourself by offering full price or better just because you “assume” that the seller will have more than one offer by next week.

To sellers…you have to be “positioned to sell” by September 15 unless you are willing to take the risk of having to wait until January 2. By the way, January 2 has always and forever been my favorite day to put a property on market. But that’s another story…