Crazy Busy

I have just been so busy the last few weeks I'm not sure if I am coming or going anymore. Our housing market is going like gang busters again, which is both good and bad in my opinion.

The good is that things are selling again! Investors are back and those that did short sales at the beginning of the bust are now able to get back into the housing market again as their credit has repaired.

The bad is that it is like nobody learned any lessons from 7 years ago. Greed is in full force and I wonder if a bust is likely to happen again because of it. We are seeing multiple offers and bidding wars on just about every listing. Investors with cash are swooping most things up and making it hard for the normal buyers.

To give you a really good example. I listed a little house in the Ahwatukee area on Friday. Unfortuantely the seller has lost her second job as a bartender which actually paid her bills unlike her teaching position. She is loosing the house in a short sale and had to move back in with her parents at age 32. Kind of sad but I've heard this same story for the last 5 years. Anyway, I put into the listing that there would be no showings until 10am on Saturday and all offers would be presented on Sunday. I had two offers before 9:30 in the morning! Both were investors, cash and had never even stepped into the house. That just makes me so mad! I ended up with 8 offers total and the seller and I decided we wanted an owner occupant over a cash offer, no matter what the price offered. We narrowed it down to 3 offers that were basically the same and you know how she picked? She gave it to the young family where the wife is a teacher too! I just thought that was so great and we just made a family very happy. Of course I had to make 7 other calls and disappoint a lot of people but everyone was so happy that it didn't go to an investor and they totally understood why she choose the one she did, even if they were disappointed.

I've also spent two days down in Casa Grande, which is about a 35 minute ride for me, which isn't horrible, helping my best friend's daughter find somewhere to live. She is the adoption coordinator for Pinal County Animal Control and she is currently living almost an hour away from her job. She really wants to find something that has some land because of her animals. She has 4 dogs and tends to bring a few new ones home every so often to find them homes instead of putting them on the kill list. We found her something on a third of an acre, so putting an offer on that today.

I've got about 3 other buyers I am working with too plus the 3 houses I have in escrow so it's really keeping me on my toes. Add in that we have some cousins from Montana coming in on Wednesday and will be staying with us a couple of nights. I don't know where I am going to find the time to entertain them, get the house ready, get food in and cook a few meals too. Something has to give and I hope it's not my sanity!