With a swipe at both Bernal (“Tired of looking at the freeway in Bernal?”) and SoMa condos (“without [the] high HOA fees to pay”), the renovated single-family cottage on a small Excelsior lot at 419 Peru Avenue was relisted today as a short sale for “$399,000.”
Purchased for $609,000 in November 2005 back when “buy now or be priced out forever!” was an agents favorite line (and anyone who thought otherwise was obviously just bitter), the sale was financed with two loans, one for $487,200, a second for $91,350, and $30,450 (5%) down. And therein lies part of the problem as they’re now angling for a “two lender short sale.”
Listed for sale at $649,000 in June of 2008, reduced to $619,000 three months later, and then briefly in contract, the property returned to the MLS in July of 2009 listed for “$498,000” before being withdrawn a month later. So yes, it’s an official “one day” on the market according to those aggregate industry stats.
∙ Listing: 419 Peru Avenue (2/1) – “$399,000” (short sale) [MLS]
I don’t use or really care about DOM stats, but seems lots of folks take swipes at RE industry, not entirely unfairly IMO, regarding their use. My understanding is that in SF a property has to be inactive for 30 days to reset to 0 DOM in MLS. In the extreme one could claim that all properties are for sale at all times and it just takes the right buyer to want to buy that property with the right unsolicited offer. Remember that scene from the 1991 movie Bugsy? I have bought SF properties this way in the past, albeit without the veiled threat of violence.
In any case, what do others including the Editor think is the right approach to DOM (besides ignoring it, which I do)? Would 90 days inactive make everyone happy before resetting to 0 DOM? Obviously there has to be some objective criteria.
Excelsior has some interesting reo’s. Or should I say instructive?
http://www.redfin.com/search#!lat=37.72105849999975&long=-122.42910300000001&market=sanfrancisco®ion_id=918®ion_type=1&sf=2&uipt=1&v=6&zoomLevel=13
How do short sales with multiple lenders work? Does the seller need to get approval from all lenders? If so, ouch.
“Does the seller need to get approval from all lenders?” Yep. However, if both loans are non-recourse (typical here in CA if both loans secured at time of purchase) then 2nd lien holder is pretty motivated to take anything they can get as if it goes to foreclosure and 1st eats up all equity then they are left with squat. Throwing them a bone of say $10k or 10% of second amount owed, whichever is more, is a fair offer IMO. My advice worth the price charged, i.e. nada.
“In any case, what do others including the Editor think is the right approach to DOM (besides ignoring it, which I do)? Would 90 days inactive make everyone happy before resetting to 0 DOM? Obviously there has to be some objective criteria.”
My two main thoughts on DOM are:
1) more information is better than less information. MLS’ policy is to remove prior listing prices on a new listing, so all we lay people have is Redfin’s indication that someone had a prior listing, but without a listing price. In my ideal world, all listing info would be public.
2) aggregate statistics based on DOM are quoted by the media. NAR/CAR give bogus statistics to the media, and those who aren’t “plugged in” accept them blindly. This is a problem, because DOM and “over asking” and other things are rigged.
Some SocketSite readers think listing a house on Tuesday vs. Thursday is a whole new market, but I wouldn’t give someone credit for pausing a listing for only a few months. Just because a seller paused the listing for 4 months doesn’t mean the seller wouldn’t have sold the property if someone came to them with a reasonable offer during those 4 months. This is an intermediate position between your Bugsy example and the belief that only MLS counts (as some people on SocketSite believe).
I am sure you can contrive ad hypothetical where someone wants to sell, fails, and then decides not to move for more than 10 years, and then decides to sell again, but those scenarios are rare. Realistically, the only reason people seem to pause listings appears to be out of hope that the market gets better or that they get a better offer, or possibly that they are waiting for the next selling season. These sorts of sellers are not actually resolved to stay in their house except to get more money. I agree that ascertaining seller intent is very difficult, but I would go beyond 90 days to perhaps something 1 year or longer, maybe even 1.5 or 2 years.
I think DOM should be tied to the ‘contract’ the seller has with the selling agent, IMO. So long as the selling agent is the same the DOM should never reset unless it is off market for an extended period. I do think that if a listing changes agents/brokers that it is OK to reset the DOM. It is a stat that reflects the agent more than the house. A better agent can and will set the better market price and get a fast contract (if that is the strategy). I see no reason why a prior agent should be burdened with another agents DOM baggage. Besides, if a home is on MLS it is hard to bury that stat and most any basic search will yield the relevant data.
“A better agent can and will set the better market price and get a fast contract (if that is the strategy)”
Is your idea that a better agent would refuse the listing if the seller insisted on an absurd selling price? That doesn’t seem to happen in a lot of cases. It seems more likely that the agent would take the listing at the absurd price and hope to convince the seller in 60 days that the price was unacceptable.
How often have realtors who read SocketSite fired a client?
I know it is only my personal opinions, but what a god-forsaken color choice. yikes.