Big Bear Real Estate Blog – Is it Really a Buyer’s Market in Big Bear?

Big Bear Real Estate: Is it Really a Buyer's Market in Big Bear?

I have been asked this question on a number of occasions lately and wanted to shed some light on the current state of the market for buyers interested in Big Bear real estate. Multiple offer situations are becoming more and more the norm when offering on the best-priced inventory in Big Bear. Instead of speculating on how long a new ‘hot property’ will be on the market, I now find myself wondering how many offers will be submitted before it goes into escrow.

Regarding these multiple-offer situations, there are a few very important points for buyers to understand:

  1. Aside from perhaps the seller, no one, agents included, looks forward to a multiple offer situation. When a property is bid up well over its list price, it is frustrating for everyone involved including the buyer that eventually “wins.”
  2. No matter the market or whether the owner is a bank or a "normal" seller, (Interesting aside: many of the multiple-offer situations in the Big Bear real estate market I have been involved with lately are re-sales, so not just bank-owned properties are attracting multiple offers) there will always be competition for the best deals, so you should prepare for and anticipate this as a real possibility going in.
  3. What every buyer of course wants to know is “what are the other offers?” In most cases, this will be unknown, so there can be a bit of ‘game theory’ involved in the decision making process. As such, more and more the “best and final” counter offer procedure is being used by banks and sellers in these cases.

The Best and Final Counter Offer:

It used to be more common that a seller would counter with a price and terms to each buyer, but often buyers themselves would counter the sellers counter offer with an even higher price, leading to a potentially never ending back and forth process. Whereas now, what you can most likely expect in the Big Bear real estate market, and this is really as fair a practice as there can be, is one opportunity for all buyers with offers to submit their "best and final” counter offer to the seller. Of course, terms aside from price can be altered, but the big decision comes down to price. What I advise folks involved in this type of situation, in which you will not know what anyone else is going to do, is to offer at a point where you will be happy and excited if you get the property, but not too disappointed if you do not and it sells for more. That number is different for every buyer, but you do not want to be left thinking “I would have actually paid a little more” given the opportunity. In other words, there is a price at which you would not want to own a particular property and staying just under that price is usually the best course of action.

There are many more subtleties involved and strategy is key, so working with an agent like myself with lots of experience in these matters and a great success rate of getting buyers what they want is crucial in being able to achieve the desired result. Let me know if you have questions or would like more information on the subject. Or, if you are simply just tired of your offers not being accepted in Big Bear, just give me a call.

Remember – and this applies in any market – a property isn’t worth what an appraiser, lender or real estate agent says it is worth. It is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. So do not be too frustrated if you find yourself in a multiple offer situation here in Big Bear. It is indeed still a buyer’s market, but most likely the property you are offering on is priced well under current market value and current market values have dropped significantly in the last few years. So, in most cases, jumping through the hoops and playing the game is well worth the effort in the Big Bear real estate market.