With the supply of homes for sale at all-time lows, it has become standard to submit offers well above asking price, guarantee a potential appraisal gap and waive inspection. Strong sight unseen offers during the Coming Soon period are also becoming more frustratingly common this year.
But it really blew my mind when I read this week in an article from Realtor.com that some buyers are paying their competition to walk away! A Dallas Realtor told about a home under contract… when another buyer swooped in offering the first buyer $50,000 to walk away! Evidently another Realtor was offering cruise trips to sellers as a bonus if they selected their offer. These tactics supposedly did not work, and it is questionable whether they can legally or ethically do these things… but the bottom line is that they happened because desperate buyers are going to desperate extremes.
No wonder my buyers were so thrilled when they heard they secured the winning bid on the house of their dreams this week. The market may seem to be insane, but there are real people selling and buying homes out there… people who still respect each other and can work together to make the buying and selling experience a good one in spite of the market craziness.
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – shensrud@homesmsp.comÂ
