All Forum Posts by: Lisa K.

Hi @Tim Pagano --

Not surprised that the house is being offered too high; they are in this to recoup their loss and will simply wait it out. From what I've read they typically won't accept anything under 80%. It really depends greatly on what their loss is, how long the house has been listed, whether they've reduced the price and how many times, and whether they did any improvements such as new paint/carpet.

The houses tend to go through cycles of sitting, being reduced, being removed, being remarketed, sitting. All the while people are putting in offers and getting rejected. Then they reduce the price even more, sometimes to UNDER what people were offering before and accept a lower one. 

Does "they are asking too much for the market" mean you've run comps and know your ARV? If you know your numbers and make an offer in line with the bottom of your scale, you'll probably know within a week most likely if it was rejected.

I think persistence and a sharp eye may be key here.

We got our latest from HUD, and they actually post offer results right on the site, so it's easier to analyze what the approximate acceptance percentages are in the area.

~Lisa

@Chris T., it's my understanding that Zillow and Trulia do not have affiliation with the MLS, so the data they pull is predominantly from large information clearinghouses that have courthouse records, county assessor info and other public records of that sort which can be hugely behind on updated info. Trulia is actually owned by the Zillow Group but each provides some unique value.

Have you tried using Redfin for sales history or price drops? Redfin actually is associated with the various MLS so they get information practically in real-time from the agents (checking every 15-30 minutes for new listing info).

As for why there may be blankouts or 0, it could be for a number of reasons. It's possible that the property was quitclaimed and they only show 0 as the transfer amount. The better likelihood is that Zillow simply wasn't able to get that piece of information because it has not been recorded by the city/county, the recording takes months, or the amount simply hasn't trickled down yet.