Fear bidding wars? Disarm them with data, request customized report

RECafe Bid War Update 041312

Three weeks after a front page story in the Boston Globe proclaimed that bidding wars are back, fears are subsiding after readers blasted six blog posts on the subject, including one yesterday: ”

Three weeks after a front page story in the Boston Globe proclaimed that bidding wars are back, fears are subsiding after readers blasted six blog posts on the subject, including one yesterday: “Bidding Wars: Hype or Reality?”  Some of our preliminary analysis was linked to that post; and now we’re ready to reveal more to help DIY home buyers relax, even if it’sFriday the 13th.

As the graph above shows, only 13% of MLS listings sold over asking price between March 1 and April 10th — just 3.4%, a mere 176 listings statewide sold for more than $11,100 over asking price! By contrast, another 282 listings sold for $3,100 or LESS over asking price.  Not exactly scarey stuff, right?

Want to hear something that is spooky?  Guess how many properties sold for more than $11,100 BELOW the list price?  2,263 listings — would you believe that’s 13 times the number that sold for $11,100 OVER asking price?

You can’t make this stuff up!

But if you fall in love with a property and fear you’ll have to pay over asking price to win a bidding war, don’t make up your mind without looking closely at the data. If you click on the link below, we’ll create a customized report from the data graphed above to help you decide if you need to go over asking price and how far.

We advise our clients to avoid bidding wars by being proactive.  There’s lots more on that subject, and so much data we’re offering commission rebate credits to clients who help us analyze the data and crowdsource bidding wars.

Interested in that offer or some free number crunching?  We’ll WAIVE the cost of the first 30 minutes, a $75 value!

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Real time “comps”

Link to recent press post Inman re "real time real estate."

Instead of developing a "CMA" type of report that describes sold data, I’ve
been using the "pending date" instead of the sold date.

 
Reason?  The market is changing so much on a daily or monthly basis,
that considering "comps" may not be as accurate if the sold date is used, as
much as using the "pending date."  If you develop a list of 6 houses that
sold in August to compare those sales with an offer you’re making today, then
what if the market has been in a decline since March?  How much of a value
difference may there be from properties that went pending in the spring,
compared to a property on the market now?
 
Some, if not all of those 6 "comps" could have sold last spring.  As
we know, listing agents and appraisers will often use the "comps" that best fit
the subject being appraised rather than an objective assessment of the sales
data.
 
So, next time you structure some type of analysis, why not use "pending
dates" instead of "sold dates" to make any comparison to a subject property
you’re trying to negotiate for on behalf of your buyer clients?
 
I suggested this to one of the "honest" appraises we typically use
here…he said he’s only using month old "comps" because there is an ongoing
decline in values here.

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