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Are You Entitled?

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Paul George,

Are You Entitled?

Pretty ambiguous question, right?

How would you answer?

“Entitled” has become political.  Is the word “deserving” better?

My 17 year old son, Luka, is an above average baseball player and has played for his school team all of his life.  He is a left handed pitcher and also plays first base and outfield (like most left handed players).  As a Junior, and a lifetime player, he was slotted to be one of the better players and one of the team leaders. This year he has pitched well but, for some reason, his hitting has not come around, and for the first time in his life, he is not starting every game.  Even if he is playing, he is being hit for. Because he has played all of his life and works hard, he might think he is entitled to bat. As in most things in life, he still has to perform, so he is not entitled to play, he has to earn it. 

In this sizzling hot real estate market, I’m starting to sense that home sellers are feeling entitled to expect some very unreasonable terms.  Along with a much higher than expected price, they are expecting things that they would not in a traditional market. Some home sellers are not accepting full price offers or offers that still require a home inspection. They are asking for “highest and best offers” before they even have one offer.  They are not accepting what otherwise would be wonderful offers all because of the possibility of getting more.  The operative word here is “possibility.”

I’m starting to see a trend where sellers are thinking they are entitled to things like never before.   

Its amazing to see a seller turn down a $500,000 offer when its listed for $475,000, and feel offended that it wasn’t higher. (This happened to one of my buyers).  The sellers feel slighted because they feel like they are entitled to even more than $25,000 over listing price.  Last year, the same sellers would have been doing cartwheels for a $450,000 offer.

Buyers also feel entitled if they offer $50,000 more than asking price, wouldn’t you? If a buyer needs to offer $50,000 over asking, allow the sellers to stay in the house for free for two months, pay some or all of the sellers costs, then they feel entitled to get the house for going above and beyond.

I’ve begun to see some cracks, a few (very few) homes that did not sell in their first weekend on the market. Did they miss out on the best offers because they thought they were entitled to get just a bit more? Did they earn it?

Now what?

When a buyer looks at a house that didn’t sell it’s first weekend on the market, their first question is, “what wrong with it?”  Next, if they make an offer, they know that the frenzy has worn off, so their offer will be lower and they will now ask for inspections and warranties that they wouldn’t have ask for during the the first week.

Yes, we are in a strong sellers market, but are sellers entitled to get more than they are asking?  We just have to fall back to market forces to get the true answer. If the house is still on the market after a weekend, its probably a combination of price and condition.  My guess is the sellers didn’t put in the work needed to sell it in a weekend.  You still cannot just throw a sign in the yard and expect more than asking.  You still have to prepare the house in some ways.  If you prepare a home well, and price it reasonably, you WILL get multiple offers.

After 30 years of selling homes, this market has me shaking my head.

 

 

 

 

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