The answer seems to be the same in the whole Bay Area - little inventory and mass buyers which equals crazy competition. We've coined it as a mini-micro bubble similar to what happened in 2005. 20 offers, contingency-free offers, offers over $100K. Insanity. Several agents in the South Bay, the Peninsula and SF have all told me it's happening in their areas as well.
I'm still in shock over a sales price of a "flipped house" in the VERY-lower part of Rockridge, a popular district in Oakland, for $926K. I guess the person really wanted the house and would literally pay any price to obtain it.
In addition, I know a Realtor who really wanted to be in a certain area and to beat out the competition submitted an offer way over asking and contingency-free. It came back to bite her in the you-know-what when about $50K+ worth of issues popped up in the first 6 months of owning. But, for her it was worth it.
So, is it a good time to buy? It truly depends on the buyer's situation and motivation. For some of my buyers I have suggested holding off and for others I suggest jumping in. It all depends. As for writing a contingency-free offer, I recommend doing pre-inspections beforehand. You don't want to "beat out the competition" by over paying and then find out there are thousands of dollars worth of repairs after moving in. Yikes.
So, sellers - the plea goes out again...if you are thinking of selling. The time is now!! We NEED inventory!
written by, Gina Odom, Realtor
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