So Close!

March 15th, 2008

So it’s been several months now and the Seattle real estate market in the middle of winter appears to be an extremely quiet place. I’ve looked at hundreds of listings which continue to come up every week, drove by about 20 of them, and went inside of only five. Since I am already comfortable in my condo, there is no need to jump on a property unless it is perfect.

Yesterday, however, my agent took me to a property which, strangely, has been on the market for about six months and yet I never remember seeing. It turns out the photos of the property that the realtor uploaded online were so awful that I wrote the place off months ago without even checking out the specs. It’s an old 1950s tear-down on a huge 15,000 square foot lot with a great water view in the exact area I want to be in! After touring the property, I instructed my agent to contact the selling agent and feel out the situation. The price has already dropped about $500,000 since it was originally listed and I’m wondering what price would make it mine.

To my unfortunate surprise, it turns out an offer was accepted today, a full six months after it went on the market. Man, I am so mad I didn’t find this earlier.

Lesson: Don’t let online photos dissuade you from checking out a property in person.

It turns out this place is an estate sale and there are 10 beneficiaries, so I am going to put in a “backup offer” in case the first offer falls through. I’d love to figure out a way to outbid the existing bid and move into first place, but apparently in real estate, it is almost impossible for a seller to get out of a contract unless the buyer is in breach. Any interference by me could be considered what’s called “tort interference”, which you can be sued for.

Fingers crossed, but not hopeful.

2 Responses to “So Close!”

  1. Andy Borgmann Says:

    It turns out the photos of the property that the realtor uploaded online were so awful that I wrote the place off months ago without even checking out the specs.

    Lesson: Don’t let online photos dissuade you from checking out a property in person.

    This happened with the place that I eventually bought here in Atlanta. We ended up just going in it because it was in the area I liked and the agent said we should check it out. Turns out that I had seen it online, but the images online didn’t reflect at all what the place actually looked like.

    Another lesson to Agents out there: image matters. You might view the internet as your “enemy” – but it doesn’t have to be – and the better pictures you post the quicker it will sell.

    #1 - September 5th, 2008 at 9:51 am
  2. Mike D. Says:

    Good post calling out a lazy real estate agent about the quality of his photos here.

    #2 - September 5th, 2008 at 9:54 am