bidding wars

The Discouraging Time of the Year for Buyers

We’re in the discouraging time of the real estate year, as buyer’s agents. April and May are the peak months for competition among buyers for properties for sale. In other words, bidding war season. There are bidding wars all year, but more so in the spring. As properties are coming onto the market (which began

The Big Company Recruiters Don’t Get It

A few times a year, a real estate headhunter calls me to ask if my team wants to join their designated agency company. (I’ll explain “designated agency” later). Recruiters are mostly very good at their job, not just reading a script. Their job is to get my team to move with me to their company

By |2022-07-03T10:43:52-04:00July 6th, 2022|Categories: Exclusive Buyer's Agents, Market data and conditions|Tags: , , |

What is the Best Offer?

Whose interests are being served by rushing offers and accepting offers that close the fastest? Some of the time, the seller wants and needs a quick closing. Some of the time, the seller’s agent is advising their client to take the easy deal, and not necessarily the best deal. Cash offers As the market heated

By |2021-05-09T10:08:01-04:00May 5th, 2021|Categories: buying process|Tags: , , |

Bidding Wars and Discrimination

Several times a year, my agents get feedback from the seller’s agent that our client’s offer was similar to another offer, but our clients got the house. Why? Because their letter identified them as the right people for the house. We have been able to tell the story of our clients--without demographic information that could

By |2021-04-25T13:11:46-04:00April 28th, 2021|Categories: House Hunting, Legal questions|Tags: , , , |

Watching for a recession. What are the indicators?

What should you look for as an indication that the seller’s market is on the decline? How can you watch for a turn in uneven supply and demand balance in favor of buyers? As exclusive buyer’s agents, we’ve seen this before. But, because we are a small company who work with a small number of

The end of bidding wars?

The Boston Globe published an article about the possibility of a slow-down in local real estate. “... houses are taking longer to sell, and when they do, they’re more likely to sell below listing price than they did a year ago. Also, the number of homes on the market, particularly condominiums, is up. The market

Bidding wars and how they work

You are hearing the stories. I know.  “…there were ten offers on every property and everything sells for $50,000 above asking price.” “NO ONE is buying with a home inspection…” “If you don’t have cash, you can’t buy in (name the town here.” The stories are true, but they are not true. Some properties are

By |2017-05-09T20:50:06-04:00May 17th, 2017|Categories: Market data and conditions, Negotiating|Tags: , , , |

Bidding wars and better schools

Housing is all about the schools. This created the situation that springtime house hunters face in most areas around Boston. A little perspective: In the book The Two Income Trap, one of the ongoing tropes is that the pressure to send one’s children to “good” schools underlies the competition for houses in well-regarded schools systems.

Multiple offers and deals that fall through

“Did you know that if a seller receives only one offer on your property, that the probability that it will close is 90 percent. If a seller gets multiple offers, the probability that it will close is only 50 percent…” I heard this statistic in a negotiating training run by Bernice L. Ross. I queried

By |2021-11-01T19:21:13-04:00April 20th, 2016|Categories: buying process, Buying trends|Tags: , , |