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skibum,
I work with a lot of folks in Boston. Many of the money management firms are right there on State Street. Many of the younger wholesalers decided to hold off on buying over the last several years and man are they glad they did! One did buy in Charlestown and emailed me the pictures. It's a nice enough place but it's small, the taxes are through the roof and they're on a One Way street with virtually no parking (and no garage). While not a candidate for the "Overvalued Blogspot" they certainly overpaid! Agreed, we'll look back and see MA in general and Boston in particular as the canary in the coal mine. What's more alarming is that many of these younger folks at the financial firms come from families that worked at financial firms and their parents offered to help them get into a place before they "get priced out" and these guys thoughtfully declined. Back east EVERYBODY has money! What will it be like out west?
Randy H,
I've seen some of those studies over the years and they reveal things about humans that suggest we haven't evolved all that much! I'm actually a lot better negotiating over the phone. It's not only that I'm more comfortable that way it's that you can apply pressure, back down and then re-apply as you sense the prospects level of interest. Sometimes it's a good idea to call someone where you might have an interest in buying and gauge their negotiating skills from a distance (almost like a third party) and just take notes on well they present their offer. Once in awhile I learn something but more often than not you find people use "crutches" like a realtor falling back on some hackneyed phrase like "location, location, location". I don't mind people prospecting me from a sales script if they deliver the content with passion, take notes on your objections and address those genuine objections intelligently.
Skibum said,
We ended up pricing our place $30-50K less than comps (still did okay), and we were one of only 3-4 units out of 50+ in our neighborhood/price range that have sold....
Exactly. And back on the current topic, the same approach is required if and when we buy back in. If we try to time the absolute bottom or top of anything, or if you try to hold out for every possible penny in a negotiation, you'll be too paralyzed to move. Ever.
Think of the monkey who has his hand thrust deep inside a bottle. He can't pull it out because he refuses to release his grip on the peanut he has clenched in his fist.
And, if you love something let it go. If it doesn't come back hunt it down ... etc.
Garth,
I say those very things often, and I mean them! The truth is that when we drive a hard bargain we learn things that the casual "shopper" will never learn. My old neighbor built his dream house a few doors down from a dream house that is presently in foreclosure! Everytime I would run into the guy I would ask him how things were going in his area. He would say "Oh, just great" and I left it at that. I suspect had I made the effort and drilled down a little deeper I would have learned this in time to perhaps engineer a short sale. Now it's too late and everybody and their long lost brother knows!
newsfreak,
I'd have to say that as automated and "streamlined" the closing and financing process has become 8 months is an eternity. Clearly not priced correctly. Even before the internet 8 months was long time assuming it wasn't some kind of a mansion or unique property.
Skibum,
Thanks. Now how do I get this damn bottle off of my hand?
I won't need to negotiate, they will be begging me to take it at a price I feel it is worth. I will probably be buying my house from a bank, because soon there will be so many houses on their books that they will need to liquidate them or go under...or maybe I will buy it from an RTC auction for pennies on the dollar as many have done the last RE bust when all the S&L's went under. Either way, by the time this crash really reaches full swing, the homedebtors won't have any negotiating power! The homedebtors will soon have a six figure net worth,... too bad it will be a negative number! :evil:
athena,
So good to have you back! They say the proof is in the pudding and DAMN that's a lot of pudding! 940 listings added in a little over two weeks? Must be the "spring rush".
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Much has been written regarding the origins of the bubble. One of the major contributing factors keeps getting overlooked. The simple ability to negotiate. After a lifetime of standing in line and paying whay we are told to pay we have lost the will to negotiate, the ability to negotiate or both. This is perhaps as primal as fight or flight and equally important to self preservation. Yet we've managed to shuffle this important skill off to the back burner to die on the vine as we "hone" our SHOPPING skills. As evidenced by the bubble we are all now confronting "shopping" is not getting it done. You've found a place that's perfect for you (but we all know it should be priced lower in the future) so how do we bring the future closer? How do we bring sellers closer to our reality? What skills need to be dusted off and brought back to the forefront as bidding wars subside and the new reality finally gains traction?