San Diego Real Estate

Offers Coming in Fast in Working Class Neighborhoods

It reminds me of 2003/ 2004. You scan the San Diego MLS for new listings coming on the market within your parameters. Once one hits, you start prepping the offer even before seeing the property. The list price is simply an indicator of where to start the bidding. 5% over? 10%? 12% over list? You write as clean an offer as possible, knowing that this is less negotiation than contract beauty contest. You wait to hear the results…You get back to the drawing board immediately because you know that there were likely 5, 6 or 7 other offers on the place. The phone rings - could it be??? “Hi there, I am sorry to inform you that we have went with another offer. Of the 48 offers we received, we went with one that was all cash, 17% over list price. Thank you for your efforts and I’ll call you if anything changes”.
48 offers. Not sure if that is a record, but it seems it must be getting close. Though this is an extreme case, this is indicative of what is happening with bank owned properties in working class neighborhoods. Buyers are jumping all over them. The interesting thing is that it is not just a product of low interest rates that is driving the demand. Investors are seeing value in prices that range from 30%-50% off peak market prices. The number of CASH offers that are coming through, and coming in high, are astounding. I wouldn’t expect this to be a sign of a shift in housing prices - the County still has over 20,000 homes listed for sale - and much more bank owned inventory that has yet to hit the market. What I do take from this, however, is that if we are not yet at the bottom, we are very close - at least in the working class neighborhoods.

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