Real Estate

“Dear PoPville,

My wife and I went under contract for a condo in early January, and we were told at the time that the seller (a developer that converted an old property into a duplex) needed a few weeks before scheduling closing so that the city could process the paperwork approving/forming the condo association and assigning a tax ID number to the property (required before the developer can sell). That was over two months ago. (more…)

photo by angela n.

“Dear PoPville,

My partner and I have started the process of buying our first home. We recently lost a bid, but are preparing to bid on another home tomorrow. I would love to hear perspectives from others on what it takes to win on homes in this market and how they’ve structured bids on homes they won (we of course have our realtor’s perspective already).

I know waiving contingencies is basically required and we have an inspector who will come to the showing with us to give input so we can waive inspection l, but I would love to hear about:

– How much money people are putting down as earnest money (we’ve seen as high as 20% of the purchase price, which surprised me)
– How homes in the $1m-$2m range have appraised when you’ve offered above the list price
– The difference between your offer and the escalation cap (if any). How much should you signal your willingness to bid above your offer?

Thanks for the perspective!”