Comments on: Stories from the Field: Multiple Offers in the Bay Area

By: Iwana Houseman

Iwana Houseman — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:37:09 +0000

Dalowdown… Shut up!… Yeah, we believe in free enterprise, but what we’re trying to say here is we want some of that enterprise too.

You see Da, regardless, there comes a point that excessive greed, rather than free enterprise, takes over and what happens then… Instead of putting money toward the REAL problems of this FREE Country of ours, such as cracks in bridges, water mains that are 50 years old and OH… How about simply keeping our streets safe, We taxpayers get to reinvest to ensure OUR FREE ENTERPRISE greedy Companies can maintain their billion dollar profits. Lord knows, its very important to make sure that those high paid salaries still get paid so the companies can retain the best executives to fail a company. All the while, us low-life FHAers work our ASSES off because they keep shipping jobs offshore. Their excuse is “Its a Global Market” BS… Its nothing but greed so they can profit that much more after being bailed out.

I’d hate for you to waste your time, but thanks for the “Good Luck” wish and for letting us know that after the 90 day moratorium on foreclosures is up, we might see more inventory. We can only hope.

By: John P

John P — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:16:17 +0000

dalowdown. The reason the country is in this mess is because of the “free market economy”. Struggling home buyers not being given preference is just facilitating a deeper depression. Soon banks and other huge corps will own everything and be able to control the economy again, which we all know they can’t be trusted to do!!

By: John P

John P — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:04:51 +0000

I have a question about my agents. We are first time home buyers and don’t know a lot about buying a home. We have very nice, friendly agents, but we feel like we don’t get much (if any) advice. We keep asking to see homes and get told there is not much out there, but when we start digging we find loads of properties. Then I email them to them and we get told almost all won’t work. On top of that every place we see they tell us how nice the think it is… even when its obviously a dump. We have only put on eoffer in so far and they did not help us figure out what to offer at all. We offered to low, but they had told us it seemed like a good solid bid. Have we got bad agents or I’m I off on what i expect?

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:42:59 +0000

Nightmare!Nightmare!Nightmare! That is what it is like out there. I am in a short sale mess for 5 months now and still waiting for BofA to respond. I was in a short sale before that involved Countrywide that took 8 months until I lost the loan. I thought BofA would be any better, BIG mistake on my part. I would never ever ever recommend a short sale to anyone.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:36:39 +0000

You can’t refi for 6 months otherwise it’s considered a cash out – which few lenders are willing to do. There’s a lot of the bid high, get the house, then renegotiate.

By: Maribelle

Maribelle — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:31:03 +0000

I am pre-approved thru different lenders: FHA, 203K, NHSSV, Santa Clara Trust,CHDAP. This is in case that the seller would not want FHA, or is an As-Is condition and even almost non-inhabitable.

My financing can cover any situation. But guess what? I realized ir doesnt matter what type of financing you have. Bottom line is CASH IS KING.

I heard people cash out their 401K, buy cash, refinance once they get it, and put back the money.

Incredible!

By: Carlene

Carlene — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:26:08 +0000

So far we’ve been experiencing the same thing. My husband and I are trying to buy with an FHA loan. We have excellent credit and are actually buying $100,000 less than what we’re Pre-Approved for with our lendor. We just don’t have a lot for a down payment, so FHA was our best option.

It seems that we are being discriminated against because of our loan type. I don’t understand why that isn’t illegal. It’s discrimination all the same. And it just makes no sense that the bank that owns these foreclosures makes these determinations based on the amount down and what kind of loan you have when they aren’t even the institution making the loan!

And before anyone mentions the strict FHA appraisal qualifications, we are only looking at houses less than 8 years old that are in great condition. So that should not be a factor at all in this.

I just wish we had some sort of protection from what is obviously financial discrimination. (Our offers are usually higher as well.) Also since there’s a federal mandate out there about the foreclosures why isn’t there protection against the investors who are trying to profiteer from this? I think that priority should be given to families who are just trying to get into the housing market over investors who will ultimately lower property values in the neighborhood by creating more rental properties.

I did write to my Congressman about this and I encourage everyone else to do the same. This isn’t working.

Think about it – if all of us who are good, qualified, family buyers would be able to buy, then we’d be buying appliances, furniture and everything in these neighborhoods. That helps the economy. Then we’d all have pride of ownership and would landscape and take care of these homes we’re so desperate to purchase. And the property values would creep back up in neighborhoods full of foreclosures! We are the front-line to pulling the country out of recession. And we’re not being given a seat at the table!

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:42:21 +0000

my wife and i have been experiencing this in the inner east bay; we’ve almost given up on actually placing bids because we know that a pack of investors and/or frenzied nutjobs are going to outbid us. i’m inclined to agree with those who say that this is an artifact of the slim inventory on the market (we’ve definitely been frustrated by lack of inventory!) … I’d love to see the Redfin data guys crunch the numbers on inventory levels, days on market, number of bids, pct over/under asking and see if there’s a real story here. Can do, Redfin?

By: dalowdown

dalowdown — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:07:39 +0000

“greedy investors” please people! What now? Doint you believe in free market economy. If I have to read one more posting of an FHA buyer who missed a deal bec. their 20K cash position was passed over by a seller/bank that is only interested in getting this inventory off the books. All entry level points in the bay area are experiencing competative environments now and will continue this way into the foreseeable future. Its a pain in the ass for buyers and their agents. I wont work that market segment, its a waste of time. Inventory will increase shortly, after Labor Day so hopefully there will be some relief for everyone. Good luck.

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:37:11 +0000

In my opinion, this “feeding frenzy,” is false and is due to the summer buying season and the 90 day foreclosure moratorium on foreclosures which is obviously causing less REO inventory.
“Shadow” inventory refers to all the REO’s banks are holding on to release beginning of September and in 2010.
If you really want that house you’re bidding on, the only way to get it is to use the listing agent as YOUR real estate agent. Works like a charm. I bet they will ignore those 20+ offers.