I was recently reading a discussion on our forums, where someone asked “How can you know for sure if someone is really making another offer? What if this happens…is there anything you can do?” There were some good responses on the forums, but I wanted to share a little story about a situation I recently went through that I thought people would find interesting.

According to one of our members:

2. Never believe anything a Realtor tells you about “other offers”. A place that’s been on the market for a year, with ZERO interest will “magically” receive multiple offers about the time you show an interest. When this happens just tell the agent what my dear wife told one; “I guess we’re not meant to get this house then-but our offer stands AS IS.”

I agree with this advice, but I have to comment here. I was house shopping for my permanent residence back in January here in Denver, when there was over a foot of snow on the ground and I was the only person making tracks anywhere. My wife and I found a great house that we were excited about and placed an offer on it. Now, mind you, I had looked at 30 houses and had not seen one other set of tracks in the snow by these houses, including this one. Our offer was a lowball one (as it should be), and the next day I was told by the agent representing us that it was rejected. I was surprised, asking why the seller hadn’t countered us. The house had been on the market for a while, and it just seemed strange that we’d be flat out rejected.

As it turns out, there was another person interested in the house. Apparently, their agent had a deal with the selling agent that she’d be told if anyone came to see the house. When we made an appointment twice, the selling agent let the other agent and their client know, and they went out and made an offer. I guess they dropped the real estate agent’s feverish pitch that we were making a serious offer and their client’s offer, out of nowhere, was well over asking; this certainly locked in the property. for them.

I think it brings up two interesting thoughts:

• First, never assume that no one else is interested. We had to be the only people to see this place for at least a few weeks due to weather and holidays, yet a magical offer arrived the same day as ours.
• Second, the agent representing the woman who bought the home really must have been pretty good, convincing their buyer to offer so much. In this case, a place with zero interest, suddenly DID have other offers. I’m glad I didn’t win that game!

The house was not worth close to what the buyer paid, and the fear/excitement generated by their agent put them in a bad position, especially in the current real estate marketplace. I’m actually surprised that the loan could have gone through, but then again, we all know that many apraisers will tell you a property is worth whatever you want it to be . . . but that’s another story.

Low and behold, I went on to find a place I liked even more the next day (good thing!) and ended up getting even a better deal then I would have gotten had my offer the day before been accepted!

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Tags: agent, buying-home, home, house, making-offers, real estate, real estate agent, Real Estate Deals, real estate investing, realtor

Last time we hosted a carnival, it stirred up a bit of controversy. Today, we’re announing the winners of a different Carnival - The Carnival of Real Estate Investing 4th Edition. There were many good submissions that investors and agents will find helpful - here are the best of the best:

For Real Estate Investors

1. Michael Emilio, a Realtor, writes a good basic article explaining How to Wholesale Real Estate to Make Quick Cash. This article was written for the total newbie, who wants to find out what wholesaling is. It presents good info, but does not get into enough detail to actually get anyone started.
2. Nick Gifford reviews 3 pieces of software that landlord investors will find useful in Rental Tracking Software. There are a few that I’d add to his list, but they are all worh a look.
3. Steve Burns writes a fantastic piece advising investors of the benefits of their County Assessor’s Office in The MOST Effective Tool an Investor Can USE!. I completely agree with Steve on this one! If you don’t know about your assessor’s office, the time to find out is NOW!
4. In Keeping A Bad Tenant Can Delay An Expense, Anesia Springborn talks about a section 8 horror story where a tenant just trashed one of her units. The post is a great one, however I would like to pass on some advice to help avoid this situation. Always inspect your units when purchasing a property, especially when the tenants are section 8. In addition, I recommend holding periodic inspections for these tenants as well. If they aren’t living up to their end of the deal - taking care of your apartment - let them go! I feel your pain Anesia - been there - done that! Good luck!

For Real Estate Agents

1. In Working Effectively with Real Estate Investors, Derek Burress talks about working with real estate investors from the agent’s point of view. With advice like “cut his investor client part of his or her commission as a way to ensure that with each new transaction, that their client is getting a great deal”, it sounds like Derek has worked with some of us before!

There were several other submissions that did not make the carnival - I felt that these 5 were of much more value to the real estate investing world. I would like to note that there were also some SPAM submissions this week . . . looks like the spammers are now trying to infiltrate the carnival circuit. (I loathe SPAMMERS!)

Thanks for having me as a host and stay tuned for next week’s carnival on December 18th at Mortgage Manifest!

Tags: 8, agent, assessor, carnival, estate, landlord, real, Real Estate Investing, realtor, section, software

Not exactly a good time to own a mortgaged home in Weld County,Colorado, especially if you have an adjustable rate mortgage and are now facing escalating payments.

CBS News reports that the county is leading the entire country in foreclosures, 1 in every 168 households. That, says CBS, is 700 (that’s seven HUNDRED) percent higher than the national average.

“Almost overnight,” one real estate agent told CBS, “it’s like somebody turned the lights off.”

Nationwide, says the network, more than 300 thousand properties entered foreclosure during the 3rd quarter…and that, says CBS, is up 43 percent from just one year ago.

Tags: agent, colorado, estate, foreclosure, housing, real, snowstorm

• It looks like pending foreclosures from adjustable rate mortgages are affecting lower income people more then the rich, explains Al Tompkins at Poynter Online. Tompkins looks at recent stories in the St. Petersburg Times (Florida) and Winston-Salem Journal (N.C.) which illustrate this quite clearly.
• Black homeownership is falling in Louisville, Kentucky according the the US Census Bureau, reports the Courier-Journal.
  
  Here are some stats about the Louisville metro market that will blow your mind:

  39 percent of Black households owned their homes last year
  75 percent of White households owned their homes last year
  38 percent of Hispanic households owned their homes last year

  The interesting fact is that five years ago, black ownership was at 40 percent and hispanic ownership was at a low 26 percent. The big question is - Why are these two groups moving in different directions?

• In another report about the recent census, USA Today discusses how the cost to be in a home rose since last census in 2000, while incomes fell, making it much moore difficult to afford to rent or buy a home. “From 2000 to 2005, median home values surged 32%, fueling a consumer boom as homeowners tapped into this wealth. But the sharp rise in home values also boosted the monthly cost to own a home 5%, and to rent one 6.7% . . . The national median income adjusted for inflation was $47,599 in 2000. It dipped to $46,326 in 2005, according to the data.”
• Between 2002 and 2004, the number of Realtors climbed 26%, and today there are over 1.2 million. CNNMoney today covered how it is becoming increasingly difficult for many people to make a living working full time as a real estate agent.

Tags: agent, ARM, census, estate, Foreclosures, home, homeowners, Mortgages, ownership, poor, real, realestate, Realtors