There’s no getting around it—the real estate market has been absolutely frenetic. We sent out a call to Realtors around the country to share some of their experiences, and their stories didn’t disappoint! As they do their best to navigate the fast-paced real estate landscape in 2022 for their buyers and sellers, we’re sharing some of their most remarkable stories here.
1. Buyer Love Letters Aren’t Working? Try a Love SONG
Brock & Lori Harris, Realtors, Los Angeles, CA
The Los Angeles real estate market is one of the busiest in the nation. “In some markets, it’s causing absolute chaos! No agent wants to have to sort through 50+ offers, but it’s happening often.
“We’ve routinely had buyers who’ve written on homes with 40 to 60 offers, and these have resulted in some pretty creative strategies to get their offers noticed. One musician client of ours wrote and recorded an original Buyer Love Song to accompany their offer, and guess what—it worked!”
2. This Duplex’s Value Jumped by 6x in a Single Month
Marina Vaamonde, CEO of HouseCashIn, Houston, TX
“A few months ago, someone bought a rundown, uninhabitable duplex just down the street from my house for $10,000. This property was practically a tear-down. A month later, there was a For Sale sign up in front of it. List price? $55,000. They didn’t do a single thing to it. I don’t even think they set foot in the place.”
“It eventually sold for $65,000; not bad for an investment held for about a month!”
3. Remember When Sellers Were Asked to Pay Closing Costs? Lol
Jimmy Hughes, Realtor, Oklahoma City, OK
“This market has completely flipped who pays for what when it comes to closing. Buyers are now paying for closing costs—it’s practically expected in offers! Prior to this year’s market, many lenders I’ve worked with literally didn’t even have a way to account for this in their systems because it happened so rarely.”
4. An Offer So Good the Clients Decided NOT to Sell
Martin Orefice, Realtor, CEO, Rent To Own Labs
“Recently, clients of mine approached me with questions about selling their home—not uncommon with the astronomical prices we’re seeing right now. At every stage of the preparation process—running comps, getting an appraisal, evaluating competition—our best guess at the home’s value kept going up.”
“These clients were torn between the options of selling and trading up, or building an addition on their current home. Throughout the process I was never sure which way they were going to go. They eventually decided to go ahead and list the house, and the showings with offers started pouring in immediately. The offers were well above our sky-high asking price. As they were considering those offers, all of a sudden, they decided not to sell.”
“They took the offers they were getting to the bank, applied for a cash-out refinance, and completely transformed their very modest starter home into a dream house.”
5. Showings Limited to 10 Minutes & a Line of Buyers Out the Door
Rob Kittle, Broker, Fort Collins, CO
“I can’t overstate how elevated the supply / demand in Colorado has been. It’s not uncommon for homes and property to be selling at unprecedented prices, often for all cash, often with no contingencies.”
“For really desirable properties (in a great location, with great schools, and with excellent community amenities), things are amplified. We recently listed a home where the demand was so strong that in order to give everyone who wanted to see the house a chance, we literally had buyers lined up outside, a time limit of 10 minutes per showing, and over 70 showings in a single weekend.”
6. Coming Soon = Under Contract Before the List Date
Cassie Alongi, Co-founder, We Buy Any House in California, Riverside County, CA
“In my local market (Riverside County, CA), we have the option of listing properties in our MLS as “coming soon” just before they actually hit the market. If these listings are in a highly sought-after price range ($350,000 to $600,000), it is practically a guarantee that you’ll get multiple, sight-unseen offers, many without inspection or appraisal contingencies, before showings are even allowed.”
7. Yes, Perfect Transactions Really Do Exist
Ryan Braswell, Broker, Bohemia, NY
“It seems like there’s nothing but stories of the outlandish and unbelievable from our market, and despite all of that, I still found a unicorn client. One showing, one offer, one contract, one inspection, one closing. No delays, no drama. The bank said our deal was so clean they didn’t even need an appraisal.”
8. Neighborhood Prowler? Nope, Just a Desperate Buyer
Lauren Reynolds, Realtor, Fairfield County, CT
“Last summer I was unlocking the front door of a house that was off-market to show a client, and a woman with a New York license plate stopped me asking if I was interested in selling my home. She thought I was the homeowner and she had been prowling the neighborhood looking for houses to buy that weren’t on the market yet. I think that shows you how competitive, and aggressive, some homebuyers have become!”
Your Turn
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