EVERY apt. has full, above ask, or all cash offer

What are the agents doing that you don't like, exactly?

If you think they're making it up, you're wrong.

I know of an apartment that had an open house on Sunday. They received 23 offers by Tuesday, all but 1 were either at the asking price or over the asking price. On Wednesday they had an accepted offer.

Just because you want something doesn't mean you're entitled to get it. The market is the market. The agents are not playing games. In certain parts of NYC this is happening. The data are available, you can study it for yourself.

kharby2,
I appreciate information given, but only if it's truthful. I'm becoming slightly suspect because it seems standard. And I've heard it for places that remain on the market.

"If you think they're making it up, you're wrong."
WRONG.

Not all the time wrong, but some of the time, yes, they are making it up. It's what you plan to DO with this information, true or not, that's up to you. In THIS tight inventory, CURRENTLY, they are LESS LIKELY to be making up stories. But to say it never happens is inaccurate.

If the place remains on the market then it isn't in the seller or broker's best interest to suggest any of this. Generally speaking, in the current market, you can assume they're telling you the truth. You're always free to offer what you think a place is worth, and on your terms, and be rejected. It's one of the few semi-comforting realities of this market from a buyer's standpoint .. if you come in at list or above on a decent place, you can feel generally safe that you haven't gone overboard. That said, things can certainly change in short order with this or any other market. Much is inventory driven.

"Generally speaking, in the current market, you can assume they're telling you the truth."
Yes, this I agree with. But it's not what you said the first time around (actually, it's pretty much exactly what I said in my last post).

Truthfulness among agents should always be taken with a grain of salt -- more importantly, it's good to know what YOU are capable of, what YOU are comfortable with. Brokers are good for other things -- least important is finding out from them what the other guy's offer is.

The job of the broker is to make the buyer think he's buying an under-valued apartment. It's the brokers job to get as many people to pay up for as much as possible. Their success at doing so gets them more business from people looking to sell their apartments.

do lights require electricity?

>do lights require electricity?

Are you doing experiments? Remember not to hold the kite when it's raining.

how exciting.

I think that it is true nowadays that most apts., particularly in Brooklyn are going above asking....but remember, many buildings are being built...6000 apts around the Brooklyn Navy Yard ( rentals most likely, but still housing stock), the Domino building, the Greenpoint waterfront...these are just the most publicized ones. Interest rates will go up. It only makes sense to buy now if you plan on being there forever or at the very least a decade

I don't know how many brokers are convincing buyers that they're getting an under-valued apartment these days. More likely they're convincing them that their offer isn't the only one nor is it unreasonably high. Bidding wars do exist, but in a hot market it behooves a broker to close a deal and get their 3-6%, and best suits a seller to quickly close at the market price. This won't happen if you go around telling qualified buyers making reasonable offers that they're way under or guaranteed to be outbid.

The proof of the pudding is that the apartment comes off the market or is flagged as Offer Accepted in the database available to agents (confusingly called brokers around here). If you don't have access to that database, or haven't interviewed the agent in depth, you may not really know how things stand.

If you think the agent is lying, then ask more questions until you're convinced they are not (or you catch them lying). Because lying is quite unusual. I interacted with an agent recently who was evasive, which was irritating, and another one who was uppity, also irritating, but both told it like it was.

I'm telling ya--in pockets this market is insane.

People talk often about the pent up demand to buy, they forget there is also, often, a pent up demand to sell.

Jyc, You should decide the max you want to pay and bid the same. If you do not get it move on. Remember that whatever you end up buying, you will be the highest bidder at that time. Just make peace with it or rent.

kharby .. exactly. Pent up demand to sell. Makes you think there's the outside possibility that some sellers on the sidelines will notice the insane pockets and want to take advantage of them. But who knows. I was interested in a place recently and my agent told me they had an offer at list so I came in above and all cash, and still didn't get the place. That alone is fairly good indicator that I was getting the truth.

>Pent up demand to sell.

I wish they wouuld create a word for that. Like the opposite of demand. Someone will think of an appropriate word, I'm confident.

Huntersburg ?

was this planned or just spur of the moment?

Hi C0C0

so planned.

Unless its a condo don't believe it coops still not moving unless 2 bedrooms and up

@Hburg: "latent supply"?

aalsberg, you may be right, since we're only looking for 2+ bedrooms. The example I gave above--23 offers and sold in 3-4 days--was a co-op 2 bedroom. But it was a pretty relaxed co-op with a low down payment requirement.

It may be that most of the market is slow to moderate, but there are definitely hot spots. If you're shopping in one, you'll know it soon.

If you'll pardon a story from the Sterile Suburbs, we went to contract on our house in Long Beach NY -- yes, that Long Beach -- at full asking price. Almost everyone who visited made an offer, but they were all too low, people looking for superstorm Sandy bargains. Our house sustained little damage and the insurance paid for it.

Now the listing broker is telling me she is getting calls on our "under contract" listing from agents and even a neighbor of ours hoping the contract falls through. If the contract does not perform, which is highly unlikely, the list price is going up, that's for sure. And we priced at or near the pre-Sandy price, we ignored all the Sandy factors.

Clearly some agents are being taken by surprise by so many over-ask offers. I'm also hearing of appraisals coming in at over the list price and over the contracted price.

Proving once again the truism: Buyers who are seriously in the market know more about the market than anybody, including listing agents, sellers, and pundits of all kinds.

Is aalsberg one of Jason10006's syndromes?

where are all the bears to tell all these buyers that they are WRONG?

mym - yes domino and the green point waterfront buildings are in the works, but years away, and that doesn't help current buyers.

wisco- I understand that it doesn't help current buyers, but all I'm saying is that with increased supply and higher interest rates, prices may very well come down. Therefore it may only be wise to buy if you plan on owning that piece of property for a long time. We were/are considering buying as an investment, but whether or not it makes any sense is becoing increasingly questionable.

there is a lot of supply scheduled for manhattan also

I think what we are seeing is all the money on the sidelines is now being put to use. I think the whole wall street fiasco has people rethinking their investments, and they are putting it into real property. As far as brokers up selling, its up to you, disregard them, whats it worth to you? Real Estate sales is much like an auction, make a bid, if you love it, outbid everyone else. Is it a healthy time to buy into strength and when there are so many buyers out now? probably not, it seems counter intuitive, but considering how much rents have gone up and if you have a real long term investment prospective then you should be ok. Buy real estate like you would a piece of art, if its unique and special it will always have value.

Angeloz,

Wasn't the "Wall Street fiasco" caused by people putting their money into real property?

Memito, the "Wall Street fiasco" was [partially] caused by people over-leveraging themselves in order to buy real property. The simple act of buying real property that was within one's means did not cause the fiasco.

Go get em Angeloz!

Brooksie, still waiting for those $500 per sqft deals you predicted? LOL!!

Brooks2
about 14 hours ago
Posts: 2781
Member since: Aug 2011
ignore this person
report abuse
Go get em Angeloz!

where is the pricing you predicted brooks?

Probably get that in your building REny

uwsbeagle,

I am not saying that people shouldn't buy RE, just that the idea that buying NYC RE is some sort of magical escape from investment risk is a silly one.

It was that sort of thinking that created the bubble/crisis in the first place.

memito, i dont think anyone was implying buying real estate is without risk. Every investment carries risk. I was just saying I think the average investor is looking for more tangible assets. Even sophisticated investors are looking for more diversity. The reality is real estate isnt even close to its peak. Yes there will be peaks and valleys, but long term on a global level NYC is still cheap, money is cheaper than ever to borrow, and all this is happening during a weak economy and low employment. Imagine what the real estate market will look like when we actually get new jobs and the economy is soaring. From that perspective and for most, it is safer to invest in real estate than a speculative, casino like stock market.

"Imagine what the real estate market will look like when we actually get new jobs and the economy is soaring."
-> the problem is that when that happens, the cheaper than ever to borrow money you are talking about will not be cheap anymore...

It all comes down to supply and demand. There have not been many new buildings built in the last few years and inventory is down. When there are more people bidding on fewer properties there are multiple bids and bidding wars. Most brokers do not make that up.