The buyers cancelled the second escrow on Brava yesterday.
We have had a dozen cash offers, so after the first cancellation I went back to the others and got them to bid it up to $690,000, which is a miracle when the highest offer was $675,000 in the first round.
Other agents since have said, ‘oh, you picked the wrong buyer’. But I’m going to give the high bidder a chance to close every time – I think I have that obligation. If they would have stuck, I would have been a hero.
There is more of a chance that end users will hang in there, but with flippers it tends to be cut-and-dry, and all about the money. There has been some concern about the 2019 market being soft(er), but it’s not stopping them from wanting to buy. They just want to fine-tune the price!
This is a neighborhood with zero lot lines, which you can see in this photo (in yellow). Each home has the exclusive use of one side yard, instead of splitting both sides. You can touch your neighbor’s house, but it does give you more usable space.
I don’t think there will be a noticeable discount needed for the flipper to resell a zero-lot-line house. There are several neighborhoods in Carlsbad, Encinitas, and Carmel Valley that have the zero lot lines, so it’s not that rare.
I’m sorry to hear this!
These flippers, especially the large groups, will say anything and offer anything to get the deal in escrow. They have young kids with fancy titles like “acquisition specialist” who are writing offers all day on MLS properties. The guy with the money has no idea until the deal is in escrow. Then, they go through the house with their contractor to see what they can really pay. I get it, who wants to go around town wasting your contractors time for houses not in escrow.
Additionally, they come in high to blow everyone else out hoping that the seller just lays down and takes their request for the credit/price reduction in lieu of starting over. This is the MLS flipper game, its rather shady at best.
This whole thing is what gives investors a bad wrap and it just wastes everyone’s time. Good luck Jim, the seller is lucky to have you helping them!