Real Estate deals are done in San Mateo - for now

 

Everybody wants a deal - including me.  But finding a deal in the San Mateo housing market is worse than finding a needle in a hay stack with a magnet.  Seriously.  I wrote an offer for the cutest couple on 2035 Polk, San Mateo.

It was obvious to everyone that it would sell for more than it's $449,000 price.  For the market conditions, it was significantly under priced.  But how much under priced?

Turns out A LOT.  There were eleven offers and although my clients were in the top three of the offers, we didn't even get a counter offer.  I had in my mind what it would sell for.  But how do I not look like a total jerk by saying I think it'll sell for $550,000?  I don't.  I said it.  The poor clients looked at me like I had four eyes.  "THAT?"  But it's in bad shape.  It needs this and this...and this.

I can't release what it sold for because it's still in process.  But eleven offers...

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Even at the beginning of last year we could see what kind of year we were going to have if the inventory didn't increase.

1409 Young listed for $349,000 and sold for $355,000 in February.

Two months later...

818 Tilton - 760 square foot, 2 bedroom house
Listed for $295,000
Sold for $390,000 - no, that's not a typo

Inventory hasn't changed

It's still far too low.  Buyers are out in force.

How do you get your offer accepted?

You've got to get creative and pay a lot more than you'd like to or believe you should - or is even reasonable.

• The letter to the sellers, "We love the house"?  Yes.  Do it.
• As big of a downpayment you can stomach.
• Short contingency time frames.
• Full underwritten pre-approval.  Pre-qualification will be removed from our vocabulary soon.
• Find an agent that's a good - and responsive - communicator and knows how to negotiate hard without being an idiot.

There are a lot of things you can do to get your offer accepted.  Although price is the number one factor, there are others that come into play in the structure of your offer.