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$782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

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Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#21

Working at a huge tech company like Google or Facebook is attractive to me, but not enough to justify spending $2.5M on a smaller house, or 12x more per square foot. And this is just in Phoenix. I know there are other places with tech jobs and much lower cost of living, or better income-to-COL ratios.

[deleted]

Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#22
post #5

Aside: I don't think it should be legal to not accept the asking price for a home. With any other thing I want to buy, if I agree to pay the list price I get the item. Sometimes I can haggle the price down but the listed price is always accepted. This system of listing a price to 'get people in the door' and then igniting a bidding war makes it impossible for anyone to shop for a house except for realtors who are 'in…

When selling a house you want some ability to be selective on buyers. Some properties won't be able to be mortgaged as is under some of the special programs (VA loans require particular building codes and standards in addition to the standards required for conventional loans for example) as often the seller is buying a new property with the proceeds of sale, delays that one of these special programs might create may be costly to the seller.

Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#23

In France, there's no such thing as paying over the ask price. You are forced to sell to the first buyer who offers to pay the ask price. I suspect that this is done to prevent prices from rising too quickly.

Are houses ever sold in auctions in France? How long are typical houses on the market? It seems in this situation that you would start the house price high and then lower it over weeks/months until you get an offer.

In the US, sometimes houses are priced "low" intentionally and the listing agent says something like "offers will be accepted until noon Monday" to encourage over asking, all cash offers, and waiving inspections.

Sometimes, houses are also sold at auctions in the US. This is common for foreclosures and seizures, for example.

Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#25
post #5

Aside: I don't think it should be legal to not accept the asking price for a home. With any other thing I want to buy, if I agree to pay the list price I get the item. Sometimes I can haggle the price down but the listed price is always accepted. This system of listing a price to 'get people in the door' and then igniting a bidding war makes it impossible for anyone to shop for a house except for realtors who are 'in…

It doesn't seem practical to avoid the need for an expert when buying unique, hand-built items that cost multiple times the buyer's annual salary. Not everything needs to be condensed down to a one-click buying experience.

Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#26
post #5

Aside: I don't think it should be legal to not accept the asking price for a home. With any other thing I want to buy, if I agree to pay the list price I get the item. Sometimes I can haggle the price down but the listed price is always accepted. This system of listing a price to 'get people in the door' and then igniting a bidding war makes it impossible for anyone to shop for a house except for realtors who are 'in…

Woo! Now everyone's house is listed for $100M!

Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#27

In France, there's no such thing as paying over the ask price. You are forced to sell to the first buyer who offers to pay the ask price. I suspect that this is done to prevent prices from rising too quickly.

Are asking prices artificially limited somehow, or do people just set the price high so they can negotiate between potential buyers?

no they aren't limited anyhow, and if I would be selling my flat there this is definitely a tactic to do

Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#28
post #5

Aside: I don't think it should be legal to not accept the asking price for a home. With any other thing I want to buy, if I agree to pay the list price I get the item. Sometimes I can haggle the price down but the listed price is always accepted. This system of listing a price to 'get people in the door' and then igniting a bidding war makes it impossible for anyone to shop for a house except for realtors who are 'in…

You can, with a modicum of effort, learn the market as well or better than a real estate agent. You're only interested in a small slice of the houses that are on the market (at least in the Bay Area, supply is very low here). It's worth going to open houses, looking at asking prices, and then following up on what happened to that property. Spend at least 6 months getting to know the market for the neighborhoods and type of home you're interested in before you shop seriously. And keep in mind that you may be disappointed more than once along the way.

Finally, the "asking" price is not a contract. When my wife and I bought our house, there was a competitive offer that included "lifetime" seating at a popular restaurant near us. We had both offered slightly over asking, and this was 2009, so not exactly a "hot" market. Your solution would basically ask sellers to treat their house like a commodity, which might make sense in a spec home or developer deal, but really makes zero sense for two parties who are each making what is likely the single largest financial transaction of their life.

Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#29

It's a 13k lot a mile from Apples new campus. The person who bought it knows it's potential. Even if you make 10% of that initial investment you're still doing amazing.

There are an incredible number of Apple employees worth tens of millions of dollars that would love to not commute. The potential to rebuild a monster house on this lot next to Apple is definitely quite valuable.

Location, location, location.

Re: $782k over asking for a house in Sunnyvale

#30
post #5

Aside: I don't think it should be legal to not accept the asking price for a home. With any other thing I want to buy, if I agree to pay the list price I get the item. Sometimes I can haggle the price down but the listed price is always accepted. This system of listing a price to 'get people in the door' and then igniting a bidding war makes it impossible for anyone to shop for a house except for realtors who are 'in…

however a home is a unique item, limited in availability. Hence it warrants allowing others to offer more for it. plus just as it is the right of buyer to haggle for the best price it does not always mean the lowest
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