50% Of Our Clients’ Offers Were On Homes With Multiple Bids

by Redfin Blogger | 3 Comments

In July, half of the offers we presented to listing agents were on homes with at least one other offer.

“We’re seeing a lot of multiple offer situations in Belmont, Brookline, and Arlington,” says Adam Welling, the top buyer’s agent in eastern Massachusetts. “In Belmont, it’s the homes over $500,000 that are getting a lot of attention, while in Brookline and Arlington, there’s a lot of activity on condo units in mid-rise buildings.”

Tips For Bidding On A Home With Multiple Offers

For Adam, the best strategy is to act quickly and lead with a strong offer:

Know the market and what you want so you’re ready to jump when you see something you like. To show the sellers you’re a serious buyer, make your first offer count.

The Busy Season Is Going Into Extra Innings

Traditionally, the Boston real estate market heats up in June and July and begins to slow in August. This year June and July were busy, but we’re not seeing things taper off like normal. This past weekend our Boston agents received a ton of offers to write up and present to listing agents.

This is due to two things:

  1. The first-time home-buyers tax credit expires soon. To qualify for the tax credit you need to close on your home by November 30. In Boston, it’s taking more than 50 days after agreeing to terms for our clients to take possession of their homes. If you’re hoping to get the tax credit, you have a little over two months left to find a home.
  2. Interest rates are still low. While mortgage interest rates are not as low as they were earlier in the year, they are still well-below historical levels.

What trends are you seeing in the Boston market right now?

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  • Michael Pahre

    Your title and your first sentence do not agree. It is either one or the other.

    If half of your clients’ bids went to houses with at least one other offer, then that means that 2/3 of all offers were on homes with multiple bids.

    —–
    Example: Your client makes an offer on House A (Offer #1), and another offer on House B (Offer #2). Somebody else makes an offer on House A (Offer #3); nobody else makes an offer on House B.

    2/3 of those offers were on a house (House A) that had multiple offers. But 1/2 of your clients’ offers were on a house that had another offer.
    —–

    So, which is correct? Your title, or your first sentence?

  • Chris Glew

    Michael-
    The title was correct. I just fixed the first sentence.

    Thanks for catching this error.

  • http://wesellboston.net/ Jeffrey Persons

    Before I got into real estate, I was a stock trader. If this consumer led recession plays out like the others, the current traction the stock market is seeing is signaling a recovery in the economy as a whole 6 months from now with unemployment decreasing 6 months later as it is a lagging indicator.
    I think real estate prices in the Boston Area will firm up with the economy and head higher in 2010.