You’ll be lured by clever ploys, tempted to bid a fortune without subjects
Jollean Willington
Sun
Freelancer Jollean Willington finally found a home after much work and the heartbreak of more than a dozen failed offers. Photograph by : Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
In today’s hot market, being on the front lines of buying a home in the Lower Mainland is not for the faint of heart.
It requires commitment and training. Weeknights are spent driving around casing out preferred areas and viable listings. Orienteering comes in handy when planning the open-house circuit. Spare moments are on the Internet wading through MLS listings.
It’s been more than a year since my fiance and I started searching for our first home, and the hunt has taken over our lives. We write contract subjects in our sleep.
We’ve seen it all, from assessment-plagued condos in Kitsilano to detached houses in Burnaby. Often at viewings, I smile and nod to people in the squirming masses, explaining to my partner that I recognize them from other open houses.
We really should have a support group. We could call it “Buyers Anonymous,” and people could stand up and confess to placing offers without subjects at outrageously high prices. I would go. I have had my temptations, like that beauty near Commercial Drive …
I have seen more than my fair share of clever marketing strategies employed by agents and sellers, including the lengths they will go to in order to stage a house for sale — right down to arranging the cans in the kitchen cupboards (yes, I looked).
At that showing, buyers were so caught up with the colour schemes and Ikea-like minimalism that they tried desperately to write offers in the living room. The real-estate agent politely explained that offers would be accepted only three days from the viewing, at precisely 6 p.m.
As the living room emptied in a scurry of whispers, another price war began. That particular two-bedroom, plus den house with a one-bedroom suite, near the PNE, was listed at $549,000. A few days later, it was re-listed at $599,000 and quickly sold for $605,000.
The owners had bought it a year and a half earlier for $374,000. Almost all upgrades to the old house were purely cosmetic, without structural upgrades to plumbing or electric wiring. Depending on your point of view, it was either somewhat inspirational or downright frightening.
Location is still the holy grail of the house hunter. Lousy buildings in great areas are like hen’s teeth, and my job as a wily consumer is to see past the urine-soaked carpets or collapsing roof to the beauty that shines beneath the 40-year-old linoleum.
The term “lot value” comes up as if to reassure the panicked buyer that if all else fails, at least they have land. That would be more reassuring if you could actually afford to hire tradespeople to build a house on it, which is not likely considering the purchase price.
This may seem obvious, but so was the 25-degree tilt of one house I saw. Seriously, you could have put a marble on the kitchen table and knocked out someone’s teeth on the other side of the room. Located in a hot “up and coming” area of town and with an asking price of more than half a million dollars, it included a second bathroom crammed into the master bedroom’s closet.
Parts of this particular “up and coming” neighourhood were still a little sketchy. On an evening drive-by of the “leaning wonder,” we had stopped the car when a neighbour suddenly ran down his rickety stairs and over to our car. Waving frantically and calling me “Diego” with his head jammed into my window, he tried to usher us into his house. At this point, our concept of “up and coming” up and left.
The really hilarious thing about this property is that for about 18 hours, we seriously tussled with the decision of whether or not to make an offer. Relieved, we realized that we wouldn’t be able to have family or friends over for dinner without loading them up with libations in the yard first so they wouldn’t notice we had bought a fun house.
The pressure was even more intense because we realized we were not just buying a home with a huge price tag, but an investment. When your home could bring a higher return than some stocks, the pressure to get in the market is a serious factor.
We have moments of doubt, wondering about the illusive “correction” that some vow is sure to happen. This thought could offer hopeful calm in a realty storm, but show me a viable property that has devalued over time.
And while prices continue to climb, so do interest rates. In the past nine months of writing offers, we have watched as the cost of a house in our price range has risen by about $90,000.
Some people blame the greed of sellers, the influence of agents and the lack of inventory for inflated prices. I argue that it is a buyer-driven market, because buyers are the ones paying the high prices. Buyers create lulls, set new benchmarks and decide which area is “up and coming.” Sellers may ask for a “clean offer,” but it is the buyer who throws due diligence out the window or pays for an inspection without an accepted offer.
Finally, after the heartbreak of more than a dozen failed offers, we have found our home. So you won’t see me at any more open houses, but I’m sure you’ll have plenty of company. Now to the rigors of yardwork!
© The Vancouver Sun 2006