Latest / Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life / Paying less for a home than the seller's price requires strategy and an agent who has nerve

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Paying less for a home than the seller's price requires strategy and an agent who has nerve · Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody, today is the 4th of November 2024.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Connor McIver, known as Connor with Honor, local agent out here in Santa Cruita Valley.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wanted to cover the daily inventory, what's happened the last seven days.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: We have 525 active residential listings on the market currently.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: You can go to Santa Clarita Openhouses.com to see that information.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now it comes up sometimes that people are a little concerned about maybe making less of an offer than what the listing price is on any particular listing.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'll cover that in just a moment, but let's get into this seven-day snapshot.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: So currently of the 525 total active listings on the market in the last seven days in Santa Clarita, we have four listings posted as coming soon.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to see those, you have to have those emailed to you via a real estate agent.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: So if you know somebody, ooh.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't know anybody, select me, please.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, I'll send you those listings.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's not, it's not enough, but it is enough to be able to maybe see something occasionally that is going to fit your criteria.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: All you have to do is just hit me up, say what city in Southern California you want to see coming soon listings, Santa Clarita, especially, because that's where I'm headquartered, but I work all over LA and the other cities as well.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Just hit me up online, you'll find all my contact information, Connor, with honor.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's easy to find.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then just give me the city, what you're looking for, but I'll send you all of the coming soon listings as they get posted for sale, right when they get released.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's not overwhelming, it's not a huge amount, but I think it will help.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so new listings, 52 in the last seven days.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: 61 properties had their prices changed.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's going to help us talk about what I want to talk about, about maybe offering not what the seller wants, and I'll give you some comparisons to kind of set you at ease regarding that.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Of the price changes, 95% of those were reductions in listing price.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Back on prop back on market properties are 17.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: This is something that happens occasionally, well, actually, maybe more often than it should.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: But these are properties that were an escrow and they come back on the market.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you have a market as well that shifts a bit and you have more inventory coming on, then it gives buyers more decisions.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So in some cases, the buyer might be an escrow on a property, and because more listings are coming out because of time of year, that's like springtime typically, and most real estate markets, you're going to see more and more listings.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes buyers will cancel one and jump ship or write an offer on another property without affecting the first until they get the other one, then they cancel the first.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: These are things to be wary of and also to speak at length to your agent about because if your agent's paying attention and the way they put together the counteroffer, they might be able to at least prevent that.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if a buyer wants to cancel because they don't like the house, maybe they've had a change of heart, maybe they talk to somebody in their periphery and that somebody says, you know, this isn't the house.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever, whatever it may be, if they make those decisions, they have every right to do that.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: But there is a little bit of indigestion created if a buyer's just jumping shit because something better came on the market, especially after they've gone through a long period of time in escrow, maybe two, three weeks, and they're getting right up to the wire where they have to remove their contingencies and they decide to cancel because something else came on them.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you also have an ethical dilemma, them writing an offer on another property while they're an escrow on something else.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: These are great things to talk to your agent about if you are going to embark on that journey.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Just be weary.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, even if your deposit, that's that handshake that is actual real money, when you go into a property, you want to write an offer on the property.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Typically, it's established by the seller that they're going to require a certain deposit.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, the market average is around 3%.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So 3% of that listing price is what's going to be required for you to put into escrow and within, you know, a few days offer is actually accepted after that negotiation goes back and forth.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: That deposit is yours if you still have contingencies in play for the most part.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: But there could be a point where the seller says, I'm not going to release their deposit, even though you have a right to get it back.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And this is all attorney stuff, legal stuff.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, if they want to hold on to it, then now other people have to get involved, i.e.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: attorneys.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if they don't want to release it, then it could create a major problem for you.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot of choices that you need to consider, a lot of ramifications you should consider on both sides if you are going to be canceling escrow.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to your agent, they should be able to lay it out to you and explain it.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so those are the back on market properties.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh 23 properties have gone into escrow, 46 properties have gone into a deeper type of escrow, which is the pending status.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Basically means those properties have now been extracted from the market.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: You're not seeing those show up on the syndication sites.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: More than likely, they have kind of a clear to clear.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: They've gone through all of the escrow process, the request for repairs, they've got that handled, and now they're just basically waiting for any kind of pre-funding conditions from their lender.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And folks, if you're buying a house, it's going to become a little irritating towards the end because sometimes you ask for the same documents that you asked for sometime in the beginning.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe those aren't easy to get.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you work for, let's say, the city of LA, I was a cop for a long time.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: The personnel department where you try to get these documents, verification of employment and those sorts of things, it's not lickety split fast.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: It takes a few days.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're up or down to the wire, if you're down to the point where escrow is going to be closing, then the lender comes out.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And typically it's not a request of this lender, the human being that you've been dealing with, talk to, maybe somebody I referred you to, the person that you've maybe even met.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Usually it's somebody else down the line, an underwriter, somebody else that's working at the main entity that's going to be issuing the money.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because it might not be coming out of this particular company, it could be coming out of a different company, i.e., mortgage brokers are famous for that.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: They have a lot of different lines of money coming in, and typically they're able to choose the best one for their client that meets all their clients' needs.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: That being the case, when they are requesting that money, sometimes those entities say, you know, I want to see this again, or I think we should pull the credit again.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then sometimes they find stuff that they didn't see the first time, which could be the fault of a buyer.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So be wary what you pay off and what new credit cards you get during that time in escrow.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, case in point, probably shouldn't extend yourself at all or change any of your finances while you're in escrow until you get your lender's blessing.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if the lender says it's okay, follow it up with the lender in writing.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: We had 61 properties sell this week, 11 expire, 13 canceled, 16 are put on hold, and eight have been withdrawn for the market.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk real quick about one of the things that happens with regard to houses for sale.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you go into Macy's or Robinson's May or even the grocery store Whole Foods or Ralph's or Vaughn's, and you go in there and you're at the checkout cad and you've got a cart full of groceries, and let's say they say it's gonna be$55.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: $55.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: So you say, okay, I'll give you$50.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: What's gonna happen?
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they're gonna laugh you out of the store.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you've done any traveling and you've gone to other countries buying jewelry and watches, those sorts of things, usually there's a little bit of negotiation room.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So if the sticker price on a watch is five grand, you might be able to get it down to$4,500.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Even in the United States, you might be able to say, well, you know, why don't you pay the tax?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to pay sales tax on it.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then they'll of course absorb that cost and have to pay that out of their own pocket.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: But these are some strategies that work in that retail world.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe even wholesale, you can buy stuff and you can negotiate it.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you go to a co-op somewhere in Italy or somewhere in the in the uh in Europe and you register again, you got three bottles of wine and some fancy cheese and some blood sausage, you get up there to the register and they say it's gonna be 25 euros, and you say, Well, would you take 20?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna, you know, laugh you out of the st, sell you anything unless you say you were kidding.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: But in real estate and cars and those sorts of high-ticket items, it might not be a bad idea to not be offended whether you're a seller, somebody writing a less than listing price offer.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you're a buyer, don't be too concerned that you're gonna maybe want to write an offer less than what the seller's asking.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, on both sides, there's risk, and typically more with a buyer, because if it's a really hot market, you're coming in under where a price of a property is actually priced correctly, then more than likely you're gonna beat out rather, be beaten out rather quickly and probably not even get a counteroffer with your offer.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it's gonna depend on the market, but if you see a property that's been listed for a bit, and by a bit, maybe two, three, four, five weeks, and they haven't had a price reduction, it's still active on the market.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: If there's not some kind of a functional obsolescence that exists, like a house located um next to a nuclear power plant or whatever it may be, that could be a case where you might go in less than asking price.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: But before you do, it's good, like I do for my buyers, so I don't offend anyone.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: I want to cover all the bases.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So if I'm not the listing agent, I'm representing the buyer, then what I'll do is I'll put together a full comp profile, a market profile, and I'll have that sent over to the agent with the offer that's less than listing price, and I'll say, you know, I've done my research, Mr.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Ape, show this to my buyer.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we believe the value of the property is, and that's why my buyer's at asking or offering this particular amount.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Usually that goes over very well.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: But if somebody fires off an offer for$50,000 less than list price and they give no justification to it, it's difficult for that listing agent, the seller's agent, to actually sell.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, I want to take a look at real quick at Santa CreteOpenhouses.com.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: So let's do that and then we will have and bid you a good day.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: One moment.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to see what's out there.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, the blog has been I update this every single day.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: So if you go to the home page at Santa Crete Openhouses.com, you'll be able to see that.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: But let's see what the open houses are that are currently put together and scheduled for this coming week.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you can see all those here if you just click on the open houses.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: So here are a few that have already been scheduled.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: So we have 15 of these uh open houses that have been scheduled for this coming weekend in Santa Clarita.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see any during the week.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: They do have, and this is something to pay attention to, if you're looking at open houses and you see something that says they're active under contract but still hosting an open house, that's interesting to me because they already have an accepted offer on that property.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the offer is really shaky.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the agents are using that house as a catalyst to obtain other leads and other clients.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Be that as it may, it's not a bad idea to ask if you're going into an open house and you're not represented by someone, and that agent in the house is actually the same agent on the sign, throw them a question when you go in.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be shy.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Say, hey, listen, do you have any offers on this house?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Have you gotten any?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: How's the activity been?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you might actually find out, excuse me, bump the camera, you might actually find out that they have offers and maybe one's accepted.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: They just haven't changed the status in the multiple listing service.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: So watch out for that.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Connor with Honor.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for watching.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: We will be back in the next one.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Be well and over and out.