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The Waiting Period for Multiple Offers in Sacramento
How many purchase offers does it take to sell a home in Sacramento these days? Maybe a better way to put it is how many days should a seller wait to accept an offer after receiving the first purchase offer?
An agent in San Jose called Thursday afternoon about a listing in Elk Grove that went on the market on Monday. I informed her the home was pending. Wha? She was shocked. She stuttered, “Bu bu bu but, it was ONLY three days — THREE days!!” What can I say? Indeed, some agents have been sleeping under a rock. Another agent called to say her clients had finally looked at the home Wednesday night and went home to sleep on it. When they woke up Thursday morning, they decided they would like to make an offer. Except now the home is pending. How is this my fault, I want to know?
If a person is seriously searching for a home to buy, that person receives listings directly from MLS through their Sacramento real estate agent, and they study those listings every single day. Buyers can opt to receive listings more often than once a day as well. Then, when they find a home, they need to be Johnny-on-the-Spot, run over, inspect and write.
The problem with most purchase offers is the offer itself is good for only 72 hours. So, if a seller receives an offer on Monday, to keep the offer alive, a seller needs to respond by Thursday, typically by 5 PM. Although, few homebuyers want to wait 3 whole days for an answer. It makes them antsy and agitated. I mean, what if it was you? Would you want to wait 3 days for an answer?
Usually the first day or two, offers come in from buyers who have not viewed the home. Many of these types of buyers are investors, with the bulk hailing from the Bay area. These people are hopeful that if they are the first offer, they will get the home, and that’s not really how it works. If the buyers haven’t seen the home, their offer does not hold as much validity as the offers that arrive on Day #3 and Day #4. After a while, all of the offers are about the same. There will most likely be a lot of cash offers.
Is it worth your time to write an offer on Day 4 when the seller has multiple offers? Depends. What do you have to offer that hasn’t already been offered? It should probably be cash or at least over 20% down conventional, in this market. Because the seller doesn’t really need 50 offers. The seller needs the offer that is the best and the offer that will work for the seller.
Paying More Than List Price to Buy a Home in Sacramento
When I was a kid and allowed into a grocery store with my parents, I used to beg them to let me play the fishing game. This was a contraption set up by the entrance in Applebaum’s, close to the mechanical horse, a machine with four walls of glass, filled with little toys. A fishing line with grabby-like tongs dangled over the toys, and for a nickel, you could try to grab one. Some were worth more than others. Generally, I failed, but it was fun to play because if I won, I got a toy that cost more than a nickel. The focus was on the hope of winning and not on how many nickels I lost.
Does paying more than list price to buy a home in Sacramento get your goat? Welcome to the club. I completely understand how that can bug you. To some people, it’s a totally foreign concept, and they might believe they are paying more than they have to to buy a home in Sacramento, yet I can assure they most likely are not. Because it probably comes down to a home buyer either offers over list price or a home buyer might not buy a home at all. If you think that’s discouraging, wait until I tell you that even if you offer more than list price, you probably still won’t get the home.
Why? Because the list price you offered most likely won’t be high enough or the competing buyer is utilizing better financing methods or cash. If often comes down to the numbers.
I recall a long time ago thumbing my nose at a property because the agent suggested I pay more than the seller was asking for the home. I thought she was nuts. I could not fathom forking out another $5,000 — even if it was rolled into the loan and the difference in my monthly payment was fifty bucks. As a result, I didn’t get the home. This is how most buyers learn that painful lesson. This practice still goes on in seller’s markets, and it will continue in your children’s children’s children’s seller’s markets.
Although all home buyers are ultimately responsible for choosing their own offer prices, a Sacramento real estate agent can guide and advise you. Listen to your real estate agent. If you don’t like or trust your real estate agent, hire a different agent, but don’t try to buy a home in Sacramento without a competent advocate by your side.
