To all you jerks out there selling your homes in my price range and area- If you force a bidding war among your offers, you suck. If you force your bidders to give up every single right and contingency they have, you suck. If you photograph and advertise your property as livable and it's really an unlivable mess, you suck. If you withhold information from the buyer and share it with the lender, you suck. Real estate in King county is such utter and total frustrating and complete bullshit unless you have lots of money and are willing to pay more than it's worth AND give up all your rights as a buyer. The middle class is fucking dead.
I have several listings right now, most of which have wound up in multiple bidding wars over price and terms. These houses were priced at what my Sellers and I mutually agreed was the current fair market value. We did not price these houses low to encourage bidding wars; we did not price them high because over-priced houses still sit on the market, even in this crazy environment.
I dislike multiple bidding situations as a listing broker almost as much as the buyers' agent. Yet we got winning offers where the buyers went tens of thousands of dollars over asking price and waived all their contingencies. Crazy!
Yes, home flippers are making money again. And hedge funds like Blackstone are buying up all the potential single family rental homes, and locking up rental prices. Have you seen what has happened to Seattle rents lately?
Housing inventory is abnormally low, and Sellers are stubbornly refusing to list. They are renovating their existing homes, and/or renting them out for additional income. (More on the impact of Airbnb in tomorrow's blog). Boomers who are able to sell at a big profit are cashing in, downsizing, and choosing to rent instead.
Is this trend sustainable? I think not. But let me ask the author of the quote above, despite all the frustrations you voiced, why DID you buy a house, after all?
Happy Investing!
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