Yeah, California real estate is pretty crazy — to find a comparable (actually, smaller and less nice) place to my home outside DC means paying at least $150,000 more than I sold my house for.
And people here are really pushing the concept of “seller’s market”, listing properties for what would seem to be a fair (albeit still high) price… then demanding much, much more. I took a look at a property that was listed at such and such a price, and someone offered $10,000 over list. The sellers countered with an amount that was $75,000 over list. Suffice it to say that they have not sold that property. Why bother listing it at the lower price? I mean, the difference in what they say and what they do is so enormous that any reasonable person would put it in the same class as a bait and switch scam.
California Dreamin’. It really refers to one’s ability to buy real estate. More on this subject in the future.
In tight markets, sellers undervalue their homes in the hopes of starting a bidding war.
It’s actually somewhat common here to put offers with +$1 clauses. That is, you promise to always pay $1 more than the highest bidder.
I do wonder what happens if two people do that. Do you have a race condition and an infinite loop?
It really helps to have kids when buying a house. My old manager’s manager did the trick where he’d write a letter with pictures of his kids to the owner to help sell the offer. Some people offer free tickets to shows, operas, cruises.
But hey this is california. From what my california friends tell me, you simply die if you leave.