On low-balling. News from the front.
February 6, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Real Estate Investment, Boston Condos, Boston Real Estate | 2 Comments
As a real estate professional watching the Suze Orman show the other night, I was disturbed to hear Suze encouraging buyers to put in low-ball offers due to the market. Now, I usually agree with most of what Suze has to say, but real estate is local and she often seems to forget that.
As a Boston real estate agent living everyday on the front lines of Boston’s real estate market, my perspective is somewhat different. First off, the Boston market has seen a slowdown, but even though fewer properties are selling, the median price continues to rise in Boston’s prime neighborhoods. Sellers also understand that if they really want to sell, they will need to price their home competitively and make sure it “shows” well. By offering a low-ball of 10-20 percent on a correctly priced home, the buyer is doing a disservice to his or herself and is most likely to get a flat “NO”. The buyer will need to either wait a good three months or come back with a higher price…a negative negotiating position. You don’t want to move twice while the other party hasn’t budged; it shows your cards.
I have seen buyer after buyer lose properties this way in the past few months. I have seen buyers shocked as their bid is not only rejected, but another competing bid is accepted within days. In order to understand if a low-ball offer is a good idea, speak with your buyer’s agent. If he or she is an Accredited Buyer’s Representative, the agent should be able to tell you if the home is competitively priced for the value, or if it is a good idea to low-ball.
Boston Is One Out Of Five Bubble Proof Markets
February 3, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Boston Real Estate | 2 Comments
CNN Money reported that Boston, along with New York City, San Fransisco, Los Angeles and Seattle is a “Bubble Proof” market.
“Boston had the strongest wage growth of these cities through the tech bust and jobless recovery. Over the next five years, it will have the highest per capita income, next to San Francisco.”
Source: Business 2.0
U.S. Homeownership Rates Continue to Slip
February 3, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News | Leave a Comment
The nation’s homeownership rate dipped to 67.8 percent during the fourth quarter of 2007, down from 68.9 percent from a year ago, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday. The rate has fallen steadily since the third quarter of 2006 when it reached 69 percent.
The Midwest had the highest homeownership rate at 71.7 percent followed by the South at 70 percent, the Northeast at 64.6 percent and the West at 62.7 percent. The Northeast was the only region that recorded an increase in its homeownership rate during the fourth quarter.
Homeownership was highest among whites (74.9 percent) and lowest among blacks (47.7 percent) and Hispanics (48.5 percent). Homeownership rates were higher for families with incomes greater than the median (83 percent) than for families whose incomes were below the median (50.9 percent).
Home Prices Could Bottom Out in 2010
February 3, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News | Leave a Comment
In this week’s cover story in BusinessWeek, several economists suggest that the housing market could get worse before it gets better. David Rosenberg, North American economist for Merrill Lynch, and Chris Flanagan, head of research in JP Morgan Chase’s asset-backed securities group, told BusinessWeek that home prices could drop 25 percent on average before bottoming out in 2010. The decline would return home values to their 2000 levels in inflation-adjusted terms and put the U.S. economy in an even bigger hole that it is now. The reason for the huge drop in prices, they add, is that the two forces that pushed up prices in the first place — lax lending standards and the conviction that housing is a fail-safe investment — are now working in reverse, which is depressing housing demand faster than homebuilders can cut back on supply.
As Boston Real Estate professionals, our mission is to provide you with the best home-buying or home-selling experience in Boston. Search MA properties through MLS on our website, www.bushari.com. We pride ourselves on exceptional customer service, and look forward to sharing that service with you.
Bostonian Lofts is the premiere website for information about Boston Lofts. Read about Boston Loft Developments and how we can help you purchase or sell your Boston Loft.
We write the quarterly Boston Real Estate Market Report to help our clients better understand the real estate market in some of Boston's most popular neighborhoods. The Boston Real Estate Market Report breaks down the real estate market of each Boston neighborhood into categories based on the number of bedrooms. The report gives clients a detailed look at localized market trends. Subscribe for FREE today!