Market is Opening Up in the Southwest Chicago Suburbs

I've had 3 offers on 3 different listings this past week (2 over the weekend). One listing has only been on the market for 3 weeks and has received a first offer. Of course, it was very low (almost $20,000 under asking price and the price is what could be considered below market already). Of course, what is "below market" today? The price of the property is $193,500.

Last year the sellers had a sale that fell through (I did not have the listing then). The appraisal was done prior to the transaction falling apart and it appraised for around $214,000. In fact, when it was first put on the market it was listed at $240,000. We can all say, well it was obviously listed too high to begin with, but they did get an offer at some point in the price reductions and that offer was in the $200,000's.

Now it's reduced to $193,500 as they have to sell it and they get an offer of $175,000. Thankfully, they are knowledgeable sellers that realize what kind of market they're in. But even they were a bit taken aback by this lowball offer and were considering giving a counter-offer of only $1,000.00 less than list price. I suggested coming down a bit more if they could to show that they're willing to negotiate but with the message that they're not going to come down that amount. They gave a reasonable counter-offer. I just presented it so I'm not sure if we'll get this together or not.

I just sent two CMA's to a buyer of mine who is trying to figure out which of two homes he wants to make an offer on. It will be interesting to see what kind of offer he makes. I guess with all of the available inventory, you can take a step back as a buyer and see just how desperate each seller is. Who knows, you might actually get the deal of a lifetime if you hit the right seller.

Unfortunately, as a real estate agent I always buy when it's a more robust market and have been up against other bids and have had to offer full price (or higher) on a couple of my own purchases. When I find a home I want to live in, then I do get emotional (although when I've looked there hasn't been the glut of inventory we are facing now). I've never had the chance of presenting an offer ready to walk away and go on to the next one. That must be a great feeling!

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