Real Estate Question

I'm no agent, but sounds like "under contract" is a sales tactic. Make you believe the demand is higher than the supply.

Buying a home has it's advantages vs renting, but the cost of interest is real. You can end up paying 3x the value just through interest alone, while never being late. And the interest hits harder the bigger the loan balance - the beginning.

Good luck with everything and much success to you.

 

I am in the process of renting/leasing and see the same thing, I simply don`t look at them, I think they do that because technically there still for sale and I am sure its easier to change the status then take it down........my two cents. Good Luck, there are quite a few houses but they seem to go quick if your buying, renting or leasing seems to be decent , I have seen houses on line for 30-60 days before they get any action. Not sure where I want to live just yet, so renting/leasing for a year is a good option for me, apartments are so high that its a good alternative

 

If you're looking at realtor.com or zillow, it can take a few days for the houses to show up. Usually you can look at the MLS websites for your state/area to see immediate postings.
If its a high demand area, realtors may have a list of clients looking to buy thus putting it up on the MLS as a formality.

 

"under contract" houses can go south if the buyer fails to get a mortgage or if the house inspection is no bueno.

 

Exactly. By no means does under contract mean the sale will go through.

Good houses go quick and you have to be ready to jump on one that you like. I was the first person to go to the open house of my current home and I informed my realtor to put in an offer as I was backing out of the driveway.

My advice is to go to open houses every weekend. Even if you might not be ready to buy, it is good practice to see what's out there and more importantly, what you like.

Also, I assume you are using HAR...? Set up an daily update that tells you when a house goes on the market that fits your criteria.

 

I'm not telling you anything you don't know or isn't obvious, but typically landlords are trying to make a profit, lol. So ALL ELSE being the same, the same house, financed the same way, etc. will cost more renting vs. buying, assuming the landlord is indeed making a profit.

Either marketing tactic, or the house found an interested buyer in a "coming soon" period. I sold my last house before having to list it technically. Just put out a coming soon sign, and my realtor circulated it among other realtors and I had multiple offers.

The internet says about 4% of home sales fall through. Not much harm generally to keep marketing it until a sale is finalized.

That said, I've found "days on market" to be a bad indicator as a home seller. You don't want your days on market creeping up. You don't want a deal that fell through. You don't want to show 1 or more price drops happening already. So personally, if I was a realtor, and I had a home under contract before going on the MLS, I'd keep it off the MLS. If the sale happens to fall through, you can go onto the MLS fresh.

A realtor can still help. see my comment above. Drive through the neighborhood you're interested in often looking for coming soon signs. Check out social media - Nextdoor in particular will usually have a house or two a month that someone will post a note saying we're moving in 3 months, yada, yada. Finally, you can always try the note in the mailbox approach. I have a new neighbor that bought his house before it went on the market and even before coming soon. He had identified the neighborhood he was interested in, printed out 500 sheets saying "My name is x, we are a family of y, looking to buy this type of property in this time frame, happy to do it without an agent and pay fair market+ prices". And it worked for him.

 

This. The parties may have agreed on an offer but until the sale is closed and funded, it could always fall apart even if the contract is signed

 

It's not a sales trick, it's supply and demand. Houston has a serious shortage of ready to move in, desirable homes. Houses will get multiple offers on the first day of being listed and often go for -above- the original list price due to bidding wars. You have to know what you want, have your financing straight be ready to make an offer right away, AND be ready to bump your price up if it comes to a bidding war.

(Source: I do some real estate investing and have friends in the home construction industry. )

 

Ditto on the sales under contract going south. It happens pretty often so they like to keep the home on the market to keep garnering interest.

 

OP, in addition to other good points:

1. showing an under-contract listing is also a way for an agent and realty company to show potential clients they get things done.

2. In a hot market, an agent can run an agents-only period where insiders get to bid before a listing even goes up.

Having a great agent really helps in a hot market, just b/c they know the game and are connected to other agents.

 

I'm looking to buy a vacation house but this too is bothering me. I'm just gonna buy land and build my own house.