Weekly Sales Report

As promised, here is the first sales report brought to you by Zephyr! As somebody said at the meeting on Wednesday, "Spring is finally here!" Sales were up this week, nearing the number of sales we saw at the beginning of March. We should see this level of activity continue through May and June, then of course a slight decrease as everybody and their agent takes a vacation in July and August.

In terms of sales statistics, the number of properties sold over and under the asking price was exactly equal, each representing 30% of the total sales. 16% of the sold properties sold at asking price. 30% of all sold properties were multiple offer situations.

One interesting thing about multiple offer situations that has been reported lately is that they are not always going over the asking price. We were amazed at the number of sales reported as having multiple offers but selling at or even sometimes under the asking price.

We have actually just experienced it first hand. A client of ours submitted an offer yesterday on a four unit building with plans of occupying two of the units with his family. It was a solid offer with a well qualified buyer. The property had recently experience a 5% price reduction in hopes of generating some interest, which it definitely did, even though it had been on the market for 60 days at the old price.

We suddenly found ourselves in a competitive situation as it was reported to us that there were two other offers. Our client decided that the numbers worked for him at the asking price, and he didn't feel the need to bid any higher. His offer was strong in a couple of other areas; he did not have any inspection contingencies as he is experienced with renovating and remodelling. Also, his escrow was slightly shorter than average, and he had a large down payment. All of the terms of the offer do contribute to it's strength. Although it usually comes down to dollar amount, you want to look at strengthening all aspects of the offer. Did I mention that his offer was accepted? Congratulations! Well done; it must feel good to win a bidding war without overbidding!