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Why the First Offer Often Wins in Sacramento Real Estate
As a big listing agent in Sacramento, I know first-hand it is common that the first offer often wins in Sacramento real estate. But buyer’s agents tend to disagree. Not sure why except that they are vested in having their buyers win, and perhaps they are not thinking through the entire situation. You hear it in their voices when they say, “Oh, maybe we’ll wait until after the open house.”
For what? For more buyers to submit offers? To become a speck of dust in the pile of offers? What are they waiting for? Offers, no offers, makes no difference.
Not only that, but sometimes agents sabotage their efforts from the get-go. A buyer’s agent called another listing agent recently to disclose that his client was part of a profession known for causing problems. Followed it up by asking about the cracks in the exterior stucco (all stucco has cracks), and making other comments that made the agent feel like this guy was gonna be a PITA. Not a smart move, you know, telling the listing agent you are a PITA and your client is a potential PITA, too.
If agents would just think through what happens, it would be easier for them to properly advise their clients. Be the first offer. The first offer often wins.
Say a home goes on the market on Friday with an open house scheduled for Sunday. Buyer tours on Friday and loves the house. But the buyer’s agent wants to wait to write an offer. I say no, write the offer right now. Write that offer although it is already Sunday afternoon and there are 2 other offers, because that could very well happen. Submit it now.
As a top listing agent, I am likely to advise my seller to wait until Sunday before making a decision. Because that is in my seller’s best interest. But the seller might love the offer and not want to wait. There is always that possibility. Odder things have happened.
However, if the seller takes my advice and waits, what do you think the seller will think when she wakes up on Saturday morning? She will second-guess her decision, wonder if she made the wrong call. Further, she will spend most of the day and the following day thinking about this wonderful and patient buyer, probably feeling a bit uneasy that she is making the buyer wait.
Come Sunday, even though there are several other offers, which buyer does the seller feel closest to?
Bingo. The first offer. Because the first offer often wins.
How Could That Home Go Pending When You’re Ready to Make an Offer?
You might lose that home if you wait to make an offer.
It’s a fine line to walk when looking at homes to buy in Sacramento and feeling the urge to make an offer. The dilemma is when you spot a home you like, should you make an offer with the possibility that if you keep looking you might find something better, which means you would have to cancel a contract? Or, do you wait to make an offer until you are absolutely certain you’ve viewed every single home that might fit your parameters, opening the window of opportunity for another buyer to step in before you can act? It’s a tough place to be. Moreover, may I suggest that it’s not really a good idea to look at homes if you’re indecisive.
Even some veteran Sacramento Realtors are struggling with their buyers. I followed up on a showing of a duplex in Carmichael to find out if the agent would share his buyer’s thoughts with me. I always like to pass on feedback to my sellers, keep them in the loop about what’s happening, and answer any possible questions that might arise from the showing. The agent said the buyers were interested, but they had other homes they wanted to see over the weekend, which was 4 days away. Why do buyers think they have 4 days to look at homes in Sacramento?
We have limited inventory in Sacramento. The principle for a seller’s market in Sacramento is when you spot a home you like, buy it. Right then. Immediately. Make an offer. Commit. There is no time to soak in a bubble bath and contemplate your place in the world, wondering what would it would be like if we were all living on a blade of grass and not planet Earth. Chop, chop, people, pen to paper or mouse to screen.
I don’t enjoy informing buyer’s agents that we are in pending status now and they can only submit a back-up offer. Another agent texted late yesterday that he had just scanned an offer to send to me on the same duplex in Carmichael. Because of the way texts work, I could see that he had texted me a day earlier at the same time, asking questions about the duplex on behalf of his buyers. I pointed that out, that he had contacted me 24 hours earlier and let him know that yes, the property was pending. Maybe he was a part-time agent who could only work after business hours, I dunno.
His response was he had told me he was sending an offer 24 hours ago and it was STILL today damnit, even though much later in the evening. As though somehow he imagined we would wait for a less-than-list-price offer from him, because I had inquired as to the amount of the offer and suggested that he bump it up. He didn’t bump it. He didn’t even send it. If I had a dollar for every time an agent said he was sending an offer and didn’t . . .. He wanted to know how high the winning offer was, and I instead asked if his offer was still less than list price. Yes, it was. Well, then, day late, dollar short.
If you don’t make an offer, you can’t buy the home. If you don’t eat yer meat, you can’t have any pudding.
