POLL: Ever been in a real estate bidding war?

12 years ago

Different real estate markets have been hot at different times. Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a bidding war trying to buy a house?

VOTE and tell us about it in the comments! (photos encouraged)

Westchester Whimsy · More Info

Yes

Featured Answer

cender

11 years ago

To jhayesmlumber, I think you got involved in an unfortunate but fairly predictable situation. My husband & I have bought and sold several properties in different areas around the U.S. We have found the real estate industry ( after more than 15 relationships with realtors) to be a fairly unregulated and unethical industry. They seem to do what suits them best...lowest price for quick sale, favoring a higher priced client over a signed offer,unwillingness to show a home properly...I could go on forever. Were we involved in a bidding war, YES. We were selling a home in MN, that we had enjoyed for 10 years. During that time, I had studied all of the homes that had sold in our area. I previewed them, took notes, and recorded the list and sales prices. When it came time for us to sell, I was prepared. We hired the most professional realtor in our area to represent this very large (over $1 mil.) home. I presented my documentation for the list price that we wanted. The realtor immediately suggested a $100,000 reduction. I fought him. I told him if he was not interested in the listing, that was OK. He reluctantly took the listing, but fiercely warning me that a reduction in price would have to come within 1 month. REALLY? Long story short, we had a 3 way bidding war within 2 months. Sales price was $50,000 over list. Hmmmm. Asked agent what he thought about that. No comment. We are at it again, selling a home in the southeast. Same BS, home well over $1 mil., agent wants to list under 2 comps. in neighborhood, exclusive listing, but she refuses to show home. Too bad For Sale By Owner is ostracized by the real estate industry.

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Comments (42)

Sauve
12 years ago
We wanted to buy an apartment, not a house. It wasn't much of bidding war but we did have to pay above the asking price to get it and were not unhappy to do so. It is ideally located on the 4th floor with a view to the countryside from both balconies yet on a side road off the main street so it in the center of action but on a quiet side street. It's in close enough to the second center of town to be within steps of the shopping mall, several restaurants, the schools for young children, the hub of the public tram system, a medical lab and radiology center and several independent physicians, veterinarian services, and several shops such as butcher, bakeries, fish mongers, and even a cheese shop. 11 years later, and one renovation, we are happy to have won the war.
Emily Hurley thanked Sauve
txhome4us
12 years ago
We were sellers in a sellers market ten years ago. Our real estate agent suggested that we not accept offers for one week after listing. Everyone was told to put in their best offer at that time. We had 9 offers over asking price. We took the second highest offer because they had no contingencies and had given us information on their family and why they wanted to buy our home. The greatest asset our house had was location and a beautiful view. Our small single story home was torn down by the new owner and a large two story home built in its' place.
Emily Hurley thanked txhome4us
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JH Designs
12 years ago
I made the beginner mistake of working with the listing agent for a townhouse I liked. I made an offer on the house immediately after seeing it. By the time I got home there was a message on my answering machine (remember those) from the agent that someone else wanted to see the house. She admitted that technically she isn't allowed to show it after an offer is made, but she did anyway. Furthermore, the other buyers outbid me by exactly $500 so she also broke her code of ethics by telling them what my offer had been. I told her I was not going to engage in a bidding war. I wish I had reported her to the Real Estate Board. She could have lost her license for that.
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Suzy Falconer
11 years ago
My dad took my sister and I to view a house on its auction day, just as tyre kickers. We stayed for the auction and out of no where my dad started biding on the house! It was between him and a woman, and they probably bid three times each before my dad won. I was totally astounded that my dad had been so impulsive! Who buys a house having only seen it for the first time five minutes before it's auction?! He said, "that was the first time I'd ever been to an auction where it was actually in my pice range!". We've been here for the last four years. :)
Emily Hurley thanked Suzy Falconer
Susan Vale
11 years ago
Two of the three times I have sold houses in the last 15 year we have had competing bidders. I was lucky enough to get my current house before it went to market.
Emily Hurley thanked Susan Vale
dclostboy
11 years ago
I lost every bidding war I've been in...knew my limits and didn't get highly emotional. There will always be another house.
Emily Hurley thanked dclostboy
PRO
Brooke and Co Homes
11 years ago
I'm a real estate agent so I deal with bidding wars all of the time. I was personally in one for our last house purchase. It had been on the market in a slow market in 2011 for 65 days when we submitted our offer. My other half was a general contractor and we knew the house needed a lot of work. A higher offer came in at the same time, which I didn't quite believe until we lost to them! Luckily for us, they ended up going through inspection and backed out, after realizing just how much work the house needed. In the meantime though, I had found out I was pregnant and my current house wasn't big enough so we were in the full throes of panic. The news they were backing out came at the perfect time and we were able to negotiate a little more off the price as a result.
Emily Hurley thanked Brooke and Co Homes
rmd812
11 years ago
My husband and I have been in 2 bidding wars and lost both. The first war was won by an out of state buyer for 50k more than our 20k over the asking price. The second war was our "house" and we had to pull out because of medical bills. To this day, we use that house as the standard in looking for our "house" but have yet to find it. As for the realtor issues, we have had all the mentioned ones, especially in our area. That's so unfortunate because it discourages first time home buyers like ourselves. Because of these issues, we have been house searching for 3+ years. :((((
Emily Hurley thanked rmd812
User
11 years ago
Good comments.

I think everyone talks about the bad agents but honestly, I have had 3 maybe 4 very good agents over time. Out of 4. So I guess I am pretty lucky.

Just because you put an offer in doesn't mean they stop showing the house. Offers fall through all the time. People put contingencies on them, people cant get financing. So in my experience agents always continue to show the house. If your offer is accepted that might be different. Marketing may stop in certain cases but as far as I'm concerned the house is still for sale until the papers are signed and checks delivered! But it will be noted in MLS that the listing is pending sale so people will stop looking at it.

My last house that I sold had multiple offers. The one lowball tried to complain that she was there first and that I should have accepted it right away and that I shouldn't make so much money on a house etc etc etc. I told my agent to tell her agent it's only business, and she should have known that, and besides, getting all outraged wasn't helping her win me over.

Interesting stories, though! Good luck to everyone in their home buying and selling endeavors!
Emily Hurley thanked User
thickskin
11 years ago
Yes. But I am always suspicious of the agent lying to me about a phantom buyer.
Emily Hurley thanked thickskin
rrhood
11 years ago
rrhood

Seller's were in the process of signing our offer for a house in Jensen Beach, FL in the mid 90"s, when apparently the word got out to some other buyer's (how could that happen??) and they came in with an offer just minutes before the seller's signed, that was $15,000 more than what we offered.
Emily Hurley thanked rrhood
Coastal Properties - James A. Spicuzza
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Everyone does love to blame a real estate agent when they loose a house deal to another buyer or if they were advised to list within a certain price range and it turns out the house sells for more (depending upon where your home is located in the country...most don't). Real estate agents are either the heroes or the goat. There's not much in between.There are clearly good agents and bad agents, just like attorneys, doctors and restaurants and presidents, but I would proffer to say that most professional full time agents have the best interest of their buyers and sellers (that they represent or have buyer agency with) in mind in every transaction they procure. Yes, I'm an agent in coastal NC and strangely enough I would use another agent to sell my own home, because we are ALL to emotional and have blinders on, when it comes to our own HOUZZ.
Emily Hurley thanked Coastal Properties - James A. Spicuzza
rrhood
11 years ago
We were not trying to blame our agent. The house had been on the market for about a year and a half. In fact, our agent was quite "up front" about what had happened and even they seemed to be a little mystified. It was the timing that bothered us.
Emily Hurley thanked rrhood
Beth Bevington
11 years ago
It's not always about money. When we bought our house eleven years ago, there were 13 offers. They countered two. We re countered $1,000 higher and offered 10 additional days after the close of escrow, to move. Wrote a letter, about us, love of the kitchen etc. oh, also asked for two 12x12 rugs. Love the house.
Emily Hurley thanked Beth Bevington
Lynda
11 years ago
We bought our house last year (first time homebuyers in our '50s) and luckily we did not get into a bidding war - though there were a few offers and counter offers before we reached a deal.

However, realtor and my husband and I did discuss bidding wars when we started looking at houses. We agreed that, for any house we offered on, we would only offer up to our max budget (but not over what our realtor felt was a home's likely bank appraisal value).

If that meant we lost a house in a bidding war, so be it. We wouldn't allow ourselves to get so emotionally attached to a house that we paid more than it was worth and/or won a bidding war but found ourselves unable to secure financing for the full loan amount needed.
Emily Hurley thanked Lynda
aFloridianInTheDeepSouth
11 years ago
I didn't have much money at the time. But I won the bid for my first and only condo I ever had by 1. Getting pre-approved first prior to my search with a budget and a reputable bank at the time (not pre-qualified, but pre-approved all the way) 2. My realtor let the seller know that I had a stable job, credit history and would easily pass the condo screening. In the end the other bidders lost out because they didn't have reputable financing behind them.
Emily Hurley thanked aFloridianInTheDeepSouth
silverscreenstar
11 years ago
No. That's for suckers. Retired Realtor here, so not a chance!
Emily Hurley thanked silverscreenstar
sealegs52
11 years ago
Fannie Mae owned property. I made a full price offer when it first hit the market. They said they had received multiple, very close offers, too close to choose. There were only 2 other agents' cards at property, right before my offer was submitted, at their deadline. FM takes offers electronically, so if they were same dollar amount, one would have been first.
They then engineered a bidding war, encouraging desperate buyers to over pay in a hot market, even extending the deadline to jack it up.
This is FANNIE MAE! It was a foreclosed property. They shouldn't be inflating prices, helping people to get in over their heads. Did we learn nothing from the crash, just a few years ago?
I didn't participate. Still in crummy rental, but at least not under water.
Emily Hurley thanked sealegs52
gogogogirl
11 years ago
what paint color is this beautiful home? Brand name and color, please!
Emily Hurley thanked gogogogirl
Julie
11 years ago
We made an offer on a coop apartment in Manhattan in April. We negotiated back and forth with the seller until we had a deal. It went to the lawyers for them to do their due diligence. They wrote up the contract for us to sign and then we were told sorry, they sold it to someone else who was paying all cash above the asking price. We couldn't afford to outbid them. Our hearts were broken. We had already told everyone about our great new home.

Fortunately we have since bought something we like even more. But we learned our lesson. It's not done till it's done! New York is a crazy market where you have to act on the spot or forget it.
Emily Hurley thanked Julie
Lindsay
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
This summer has seen its share of bidding wars in Denver. We have been looking for a rental with a very specific check list and nearly all of ten properties we've looked at was completely booked with showings every fifteen minutes on day one. Most of the time we'd be in the house with other potential buyers. The strange part is, at the peak of all this about a month ago, the market had what would normally be a glut of properties in that range. It seems nearly everything that sold this summer in Denver had multiple same day offers and went for above asking. We put one offer on a place we were really excited about (there were seven total offers)- we waived inspection, cash offer, $1k over highest bid up to x- and lost it by $1k. It went for 10% over asking.
Emily Hurley thanked Lindsay
bungalowmo
11 years ago
Nope. I'm in the only house I have personally ever owned. I knew I wanted it really bad! I went to the courthouse & found the sellers deed info. I knew how long he'd had it & what he paid. His asking price was about 70k over what he paid.

I offered 30k below his asking price & he accepted. He also agreed to pay closing costs, pay for the electrical upgrades & have the roof scraped, primed & repainted.

A little homework goes a LONG way!! :0)
Emily Hurley thanked bungalowmo
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Callicoon Real Estate, LLC
11 years ago
in a very tough market http://www.callicoon.com/ provides you some best deals in amazing price.
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Arbordale Landscaping Ltd
11 years ago
Just finished a bidding war and me and my wife won! We were the lower offer by about 3k but the home owner and her mother were fond of us because we brought our 4 month old to the showing and they wanted the home to go to a young family. Go bless them!
badamshoover
11 years ago
Yes, and we both lost and won our bidding war for our current home. We were low bidder and moving in from out of town, killers in this local market. One month after we lost the war, we received a call from our agent (yes, we used an agent). The government shutdown delayed the financing for the bid winner and they couldn't meet the contractural deadline, nor could they be sure when they could. We got the house after all.
Kara
11 years ago
Ive been in 5 or 6 bidding wars. The final we won because the owner wanted us to have the house being that we had three boys just as they did. We live in a highly desired community, it's common for bidding wars to take place. It's not fun!

They were an older couple, memories had more importance than money.

I believe things happen for a reason. I'm glad we lost all the other bids to live in the home we are in now.
printesa
11 years ago
Never been in such a situation, but there were lots of these wars in Silicon Valley. I couldn't believe that people would sleep in their car outside the house they wanted to get..not sure why,,to be there first thing in the morning for the bidding ? There were some crappy houses there and the price tags were outrageous. I couldn't wait to move out of there.
partim
11 years ago
These stories make me feel very cautious about choosing an agent when the time comes. We've been in our home for 28 years and are nearing retirement. We go into open houses in the neighborhood mainly to see what the real estate agents are like. Generally they know little about the neighborhood and have almost nothing to say about the house itself.

The home next door to us was sold last year. It languished on the market for months. At the one open house, the agent had no idea what homes had sold in the neighborhood in the last few months. He also had no idea about the mechanics of the house (heating, electrical), local schools etc.

When the neighbors changed agents the house sold in a few weeks. She advised them to move some of the furniture out so it would show better, and she has been selling in the neighborhood for years. You can bet that we'll be calling that second agent when it comes time for us to sell.
badamshoover
11 years ago
Hi Partim!

Going to an open house probably is not the best way to find a real estate agent. Open Houses are typically NOT staffed by the listing agents because of the fear of dual agency where one agent represents both the buyer and seller. This has caused the real industry industry to thus view every open house as an opportunity to generate buyer leads. Open houses are frequently staffed by new agents, and while every agent is different, most adopt that lead generation mentality, i.e. not selling the features of the house but instead getting names of potential buyers. I suppose it can be considered a way to measure an agent, but I'd be very surprised if you found one you truly liked. The best way to find an agent is to interview several, ask their opinion about your home, find out how they plan to market your home, and go with the person who gives you the greatest sense of trust and comfort. But please, PLEASE, do not be swayed by the highest bidder! If you'd like more info or need to talk, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Coastal Properties - James A. Spicuzza
11 years ago
well said.
partim
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
In the examples I gave, the people staffing the open house were the listing agents. We asked, and it can be easily confirmed from the listing which is handed out.

In my opinion, the best way get a satisfactory listing agent is to get a referral from someone who is satisfied with their work. Anyone can "talk it up" in an interview, it is quite another thing to deliver. I would apply the same criteria for choosing anyone who did service work for me - strong referrals from satisfied customers.
Brenda McKenzie
11 years ago
We got into a bidding war last May. At the last minute the realtor called and said a mystery buyer had joined the mix and if we wanted the house we had to come up with $4000 more down. It hurt, but we passed we just didn't think the home was really worth what they were asking. We then bid on it twice again as the mystery buyer decided she might not want the home afterall. Again the price just kept getting higher and higher.Then one day I found a home for sale by owner on Craigslist and we bought it without any realtor help and we love our new home!
PRO
Interior Affairs -- Vickie Daeley
11 years ago
No we have not been in a bidding war with anyone of the houses we have purchased.
PRO
Edina Realty 50th&France
11 years ago
Yes, it was very helpful that the neighbors were out for our client to talk with - later, finding out that the neighbors spoke with the seller and had great things to say! We also suggested that our buyer write a personal letter to the seller explaing the highlights of the home and location that she loved about the home. With 5 offers in the first weekend of being on the market, our client got the home! Success!
Judy Mishkin
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
we had been looking to move to another nearby city for about 6 months, i looked at realtor.com endlessly and we went to open houses on weekends, i didnt want to bother a realtor at that point. and then The House came on the market on the thursday, didnt have an open house on the weekend (hmmm...they always did at that time) so i had my husband scope the neighborhood after work one day..he said it was lovely...

we quick called an agent we had met at an open house who we really liked, had her make an appt. to see the house... they were doing all of the showings on thursday. hmm.... we had to stand on the sidewalk while the appt before us was viewing the house, thought i would pee in my pants. i was DELIGHTED when i saw the woman put the info sheet back on the hall table on her way out. we saw the house, decided to buy it, went to our agents office to make the offer for asking price +$1000, she said we should write a note to the owner about how much we loved the house, so i did... couldnt hardly sleep that night wondering what was up. exchanged emails with our agent at 5 am, she couldnt sleep either. laid in bed discussing to husband how we wouldnt offer a penny more....

at 8 am our offer was accepted. 6 people viewed the house, and 5 made offers. we were far from the highest bid (so they reported) but we were the only one not needing a mortgage so it would be on inspection alone. this was just 6 years ago this week, and the honeymoon still isnt over. it was The House when i laid eyes on it the first time and its still The House.

we still are in touch with our agent, she still gives us a present every christmas. she made a lovely commission on 10 minutes of work and 18 hours of sweating with me.
Ava Williams
11 years ago
No but I've watched one on flip or flop (HGTV)
Jolene
11 years ago
Yes but we also wrote a letter about ourselves and it turned out to be an emotional sell to us. We paid full price but it kept us out of a full bidding war.
User
11 years ago
Have been in five bidding wars this month. Won one, lost a couple. The house we won, was not as fixed up as the others. Turned out to be a great house and with a few cosmetic changes is beautiful. The houses that are completely done are selling for way over list price, usually by at least $100,000. I try to look past minor cosmetic flaws and see the potential the home has with $20,000-$50,000 minor fixes.
PRO
Sound Painting Solutions, LLC
11 years ago
We got into a bidding war on our home in Seattle. It is a crazy market out here right now.
PRO
Great Homes By Glenda
4 years ago
Unfortunately, there are many unethical agents. I pride myself on being a caring people pleaser. I want all my clients to be so happy after a transaction that I put that first and foremost in my mind. Competing offers are here to stay for a few years I believe. Find an agent that has a good reputation and they will steer you right.. Good Luck

www.gshull.ironvalleyrealestate.com
Green Anastasia
last year
Yes, I did - and it was a real adrenaline-pumping experience. You find the perfect house, you put in an offer, you think that's it, it's yours... and then the real battle begins. Especially at the peak of the market - offers above asking price, fast timelines, almost like an auction. If you're interested in life and realities in less stressful places, I highly recommend checking out living in Idaho - they show you how life is in quieter places like Idaho.

POLL: Ever been in a real estate bidding war?

Comments (42)

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