Question:
“My wife and I rent and there’s been a house for sale down the street. After driving by it for 4 months, we decided to make an offer. When we did, suddenly the seller’s agent said he had another offer. It seems all too coincidental. How often do agents lie and say there’s a second offer just to make someone pay more?”
Answer:
Not often, though I know it happens occasionally.
Awhile back, I was showing homes to some great clients. We made an offer on a stunning home that had literally been for sale for most of 2 years. The next day the seller’s agent said she had a second offer.
My clients were understandably dubious and basically said, “Fine, if there really is another offer, let them buy it.”
And that’s just what happened.
…OK, so WHY the heck does a home sit for months and suddenly attract two or three offers at the same time?
My theory is that sometimes there’s a perfect storm of short term supply/demand fluctuations. Suppose:
John Smith has had his home for sale for 3 months.
It’s a little overpriced and getting no real interest. There’s a similar home down the street, one around the corner, and a third one two blocks away, all for sale.
John decides to drop to a reasonable price.
Over the next couple of weeks, two of the competing homes sell and the third takes his off the market. No new listings take their place. John suddenly has the only house in his category for sale in the area. About that time two new couples become interested in the neighborhood and…
…Suddenly John has two offers on his house!
That’s my theory. And I’m sticking to it.
