I have a client who would like to buy a foreclosed property in Silver Lake. When he sees listings come on the market that seem like they are too good to be true, his first question to me is always” is that the real price or a fake price?”
For anyone who has been looking to buy a property in Silver Lake California lately, you are probably starting to wonder when you can and cannot ‘believe’ the list price of a property. Many agents have been listing bank owned and short sale properties far below their actual market value. It’s getting to the point where I want to tell my clients just to ignore the asking price completely!
It makes sense for a seller to price a property on the lower end of market value in order to generate interest. This is true regardless of whether the property is a regular sale, short sale or REO. However, there is low-end pricing and then there is ridiculously low pricing. In the past year I’ve seen so much ridiculous under-pricing that I can completely understand the confusion of would-be Silver Lake home buyers. My best advice is to work closely with a Silver Lake Realtor who knows the area values.
Recent Silver Lake listings have included bank owned properties priced more than $100K below their final sale price. It is certainly possible to buy a bank owned property in Silver Lake for less than a similar non-distressed home; however, buyers must be realistic about true property values when making an offer. Let your agent do the research and come up with a reasonable price range in which the property actually falls. Don’t be concerned about ‘bidding up’ the property. That’s going to happen whether you throw your hat in the ring or not as other potential buyers will be making offers close to the true value regardless of the list price. Know the comparables and make a reasonable offer based on the value of the property, not the asking price. Sometimes the two have very little in common!
For more information on buying bank owned properties and information on buying or selling property in Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, and surrounding areas, contact me directly at 213-215-4758 or check out LApropertySolutions.com
Jenny Durling
Broker Associate
L.A. Property Solutions
213-215-4758
info@LApropertySolutions.com
LApropertySolutions.com
Copyright © 2010 By Jenny Durling *What is the REAL price of that bank owned Silver Lake home?*
[...] $100,000 below other similarly sized homes in the neighborhood, there is a reason. It could be that the bank has listed the property low in order to attract offers, which is pretty common in the Silver Lake area. The other reason for the low price is most likely [...]