You betcha. In January, we began looking for a house to purchase with our kids as an investment. We're here in San Diego, out in the East County, and our price range was $429K or less. We definitely wanted location, location. We found one in Lakeside that we liked that was a short sale (the sellers were upside down, in other words) and a great buy. It was actually still in great condition and at least $100K under any other house in the neighborhood. We put in our offer and waited. And waited. And waited. The banks are notorious for very slow response times. In the meantime, another offer came in. Still we waited. We kept looking at houses, but couldn't beat this deal, but at least we'd have backup ideas. The bank came back $50K higher so we bowed out. We put offers in on several others and each time there were multiple offers! Surprised? So were we.
This year, each and every time one of our buyers has offered on a property, there have been multiple offers. This goes for condos under $250K and for homes under $450. This has been true for short sales or bank repos. Our buyers get frustrated. Leah, our buyers agent, has put in 7 offers for one of her buyers, and each time they have been outbid! They're still looking.
Granted we're all wanting that great buy. But what this tells us is that despite all of the doom and gloom about the economy and the real estate crisis, there are A LOT of people out looking for bargains, and that is a very good thing! So though we are definitely slower this year, we are encouraged by all this competition and will keep on keeping on!
by Debbie
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