As the Southern California housing market continues to improve, many home buyers are complaining that San Diego Realtors are shooting down their offers with equal veracity.
So what’s the deal?
Since last year, home buyers and real estate investors have been complaining that they are having a hard time getting purchase offers accepted by San Diego Realtors. With 90 or more bids being submitted on hot home listings, competition is definitely a factor. Yet, there can be a variety of reasons that those buying a home in San Diego are having a hard time. They aren’t just having a tough time getting contracts signed, but in many cases, just getting offers in front of the actual sellers.
So why would San Diego Realtors be a stumbling block in this process, and what can buyers do about it?
The State of the San Diego Housing Market
Southern California has bounced back fast, becoming one of the healthiest markets in the United States. According to reports from a local newspaper, San Diego County is rising to become one of the top 7 counties in the U.S. regarding home price increases. Year-over-year local median home prices are up 25% to $430,000 as of August 2013.
At the same time, housing inventory in the county is down. Distressed sales, as a percentage of transactions, have dropped. San Diego home loan borrowers have also been called among the healthiest in the nation.
It’s not out of control. There are still foreclosures. Discounts are still available, and there is plenty of room for growth. However, this has clearly helped to dramatically increase competition in the marketplace. San Diego Realtors have still had to deal with deals falling apart for one reason or another.
Many would-be home buyers are shocked that some San Diego Realtors aren’t even passing their bids onto seller clients. In some cases, they refuse to entertain buyers’ offers at all. So what’s going on?
Real Estate Agents Acting to Protect Their Clients
It is a Realtor’s job to represent their seller clients and protect their best interests. Part of this is getting them the best deal, minimizing their stress and ensuring a solid deal is struck.
This can mean potential offers getting shot down for everything from price to terms, low deposits, excessive contingencies, financing clauses and generally weak or shady looking offers.
Real Estate Agents Acting to Protect Their Own Best Interests
Unfortunately, as in any other business that revolves around money, there can be greedy, rotten apples that are just out for themselves.
There are some San Diego Realtors with pristine ethics. Others take it upon themselves to accept and recommend or deny offers on behalf of their home owner clients without even telling them about them.
They do this to hold out for higher commissions, to double dip by getting both sides of the commission, because they want to buy the property at a discount themselves or have a friend buy it. It may even be because they want a stronger buyer with a larger deposit that will guarantee their paychecks whether the deal closes or not.
What to do for Buyers
Of course, just because there are excuses, doesn’t mean that Realtors can legally or ethically act this way. The only exception may be if a seller has empowered them to do so.
Figure out the reasons that your offers are getting shot down and try to make better offers. Just don’t be pressured into stupid moves.
If running into ethical minefields and obstinate agents, fighting won’t get you far or win you anything in 99% of cases. Instead, move onto another deal or San Diego real estate agent and put them on your black list to save time and frustration later.
