Buying a house...Bidding war!!!

[Desnik]

How did I know this was going to happen?
We are moving and the house we are purchasing was at an incredible price for what it has and the area. The owners were relocated and the house is vacant and they priced it to sell fast. Well we had to put a bid in for $5,000 above the asking price because there were 4 other offers on the table!! We were given right of first refusal because the listing agent is from the same office as our realtor and we had the highest bid. Well, today we get told someone came in with an offer $5,000 above what we offered!!! Luckily the contracts are already at my attorney's office and we sign them next week. The owners are honoring our agreement and not accepting the higher offer, thankfully! I just can't wait till the contracts are signed and they won't show the house anymore!!!
Wow, I really forgot what a roller coaster ride this home buying/selling can be!! I got an offer on my house but it was way below what we are aking and we can't go there!! Anyway, anyone want to buy a house?!!!!LOL!!
What really blows me away is the house we are buying is $500,000!! and did I mention, it needs a new roof, siding and kitchen? This was the house that was in the best condition that we saw. It is a great house and super school district, and much closer to DH job. But still, when I was little a $500,000 home was a mansion!!! It is so crazy around here!!
Thanks for letting me babble!
Anyone else in the same sitiation buying/selling a house?

 

[CEDmom]

Congratulations on getting the house. We bought new constructions and should close late March/early April. Our house is on the market but we haven't yet gotten any serious offers although a lot of people have looked. I'm hoping things pick up soon since I'm not looking forward to paying two mortgages for an extended period of time.

 

[Desnik]

Thanks! And congrats to you on your new home! Lucky you, no renovations to have to live through! Our first house was new construction and that was such a nightmare for me!LOL You would think I would've had fun being able to pick everything out, but it was too stressful and too many desisions! Then after all that we only stayed there for 1.5 years!!!

Our house has been on the market for a week now and we had about 4 couples look so far. I have appt. tomorrow, Sat, and we are doing an open house on Sun. The people that are coming tomorrow are coming back from last week, so that could be a good sign! I also don't want to have to pay for 2 mortgages for too long.
Spring is coming so that should be a busy time for realestate. Hopefully we'll both get lucky!
Good luck

 

[ChristmasElf]

Things are really starting to flatten out down here after it being a sellers market for a few years, driving the prices through the roof, that is over and now it is a buyers market and there are going to be a LOT of folks in trouble that bought high just last summer.
My neighbor has lowered their price 4 times in the last 5 months. His wife is so frustrated they didn't unload the house last June/July when they would have sold it in 20 minutes and for TOP dollar.

 

[barkley]

just saw an episode of some real estate oriented show the other night that talked about the concept of grossly underpricing a house in an attempt to cause a bidding war.

the realtors on the show did'nt think it was very ethical but said they had dealt with clients who grossly underpriced to pull in buyers that would believe the house was such a steal they would disreguard what other homes in the area were going for and start a bidding war. the realtors said there was the 'advertised price' and the 'real price'-the sellers would automaticly counter offers that came in above their asking but below their desired selling with outrageous counters that would 'weed out' those seeking homes in the advertised price range.

we're putting our house on the market in march and will be deciding on our asking price closer to the listing date-the market is flattening here too, but we've had some houses sell in the past couple of months for 30K more than identical houses on the same street (with not much difference in appearance or upgrades). i think it just comes down to lucking out with finding the right buyer at the right time.

congrats on your new home-and 500k is'nt too bad, around here people buy a 500k house and tear it down to the studs to rebuild entirely (not me-no way, but it is'nt uncommon).

 

[CEDmom]

just saw an episode of some real estate oriented show the other night that talked about the concept of grossly underpricing a house in an attempt to cause a bidding war.

the realtors on the show did'nt think it was very ethical but said they had dealt with clients who grossly underpriced to pull in buyers that would believe the house was such a steal they would disreguard what other homes in the area were going for and start a bidding war. the realtors said there was the 'advertised price' and the 'real price'-the sellers would automaticly counter offers that came in above their asking but below their desired selling with outrageous counters that would 'weed out' those seeking homes in the advertised price range.

we're putting our house on the market in march and will be deciding on our asking price closer to the listing date-the market is flattening here too, but we've had some houses sell in the past couple of months for 30K more than identical houses on the same street (with not much difference in appearance or upgrades). i think it just comes down to lucking out with finding the right buyer at the right time.

congrats on your new home-and 500k is'nt too bad, around here people buy a 500k house and tear it down to the studs to rebuild entirely (not me-no way, but it is'nt uncommon).

I've seen shows about this as well. The one big risk is a mortgage company not approving someone because the purchase price is way beyond that of comparable homes.

Desnik - I know what you mean about the stress of selecting options. I continue to 2nd guess our choices.