| Buying

Bidding Wars 2

If we thought 32 offers on the house in the Junction earlier on this year was big news – we hadn’t seen anything yet! Toronto – it’s time to chat about what everyone is hearing, reading and talking about: 72 offers on a Toronto home; how did this happen!? Here’s our two cents…

The Scenario:

Earlier this week a detached 5 bedroom home in the Avenue and Eglinton area marketed as a ‘Renovators or Builders Dream’ (a gut) that was listed for $699,000 sold for just over $1,365,000 (a whopping $666,888 over asking) with 72 offers!

What went wrong: Where do we start?

The property was listed dramatically low (not the typical 10 – 15% we have grown accustomed to seeing in the city) and was not in line with market value or even just land value if purchased by a builder. This gave a false hope to a lot of Toronto homebuyers looking to buy under $800,000, which we believe made up for a good chunk of those 72 offers.

The Realtors representing the buyers should have done their research on home values in that area. Now, we at the Christine Cowern Team are not ones to say no to a buyer if they wish to put in an offer on a property, BUT we do give our client’s all of the information they need to make a decision. This includes doing an in depth analysis on recent comparable properties that have sold in a specific neighbourhood. How many of these offers were under $800,000? We’re willing to bet quite a few. The listing agent himself when speaking with the Toronto Star acknowledged that nothing has sold on the prime, tree-lined street, just steps from Yonge St. and the subway station, for $699,000 for at least 10 to 15 years! If your Realtor is not educating you they aren’t doing their JOB!

The listing agent represented the winning buyer (and at least 5 others who put in unsuccessful offers). There’s nothing illegal about representing both the seller and the buyer in a sale of a property but is a sticky position to be in the best of situations and we always proceed with caution. Where was the caution here?

One of the concerns that we have with this sale is the buyer’s that didn’t win the bidding war and the time that was wasted. With the average home price climbing month by month why waste people’s time with dramatically low pricing games like this one? The good news is; we’re here to help! We’ve seen a lot more inventory (homes) come onto the market in the past month than we have in quite some time and although it’s still a seller’s market in many cases thankfully extreme stories like this one are not the norm. If you’re looking to get into the market now but are nervous about the process, give us a call at 416-572-1380. We promise to guide you through the process and help you to find your dream home!