Ladies and gentlemen, we don't have to tell you things are bad out there for Greater Boston homebuyers. Everybody knows things are bad. Open houses are mad houses. Bidding wars are the new normal. Houses that need freakin' work go for six figures above their askings.
Now comes news, via Beth Teitell in The Globe, that prospective buyers are turning on the charm, often of the smarmy kind, to hook sellers' interests:
With inventory down and prices rising, buyers are exhibiting the kind of frenzied behavior not seen since 2005. It is not enough that they are mobbing open houses, bidding thousands of dollars over asking price, and making all-cash offers. They are going so far as to Google owners and craft pitches in which they pretend to enjoy the same things the sellers do. Family photos are not uncommon. One desperate soul pretended to like kayaking. There is a bit of karma, though, in this frothy (oops—we mean, healthy) market: "'We were warned our condo might sell fast, but we didn't think it would be so quick: It sold the first weekend,' said Meghan Lacoche, formerly of Belmont, now living in temporary housing in Brighton." Take that, savvy seller.
· House Seekers Play All Angles in Tight Market [Globe]
· Signs of Low Inventory and the Mother of All Over-Asks [Curbed Boston]
· Further Proof the Hub's One Big Condo-Bidding Warzone [Curbed Boston]
· Hub Open-House Attendance Way Up, Brokers Say [Curbed Boston]