There was a property that made a big splash last month, coming on the market at the low, low price of $549k with a hold back on offers for 6 days. And talk about starting the year off with a bang! It got a gazillion showings & 36 offers!
The property in question was 377 Laguna St, near the Oshawa/North Courtice border, just off Adelaide, in the Eastdale neighbourhood of Oshawa. Good mid-town location. See it HERE
A 1970's 3bed/2bath bungalow with single car garage in well-kept, but dated condition. With a non-legalized bsmt apartment. As I mentioned, the list price was $549k with a hold back on offers for 6 days. The firm selling price of $747k was posted the following day. Firm refers to no conditions. I thought it might go for less than that & some REALTORS® in our office thought it would go for more…
Other 3bed/2bath/single garage bungalows (in various conditions) in the immediate area sold in the range of $575k to $750k since Sept 1st. In fact, something far more updated, with the same specs, just sold in the area last week for $725k!
They listed at $749k & got $725k & Laguna listed at $549k & got $747k with a ton of cosmetic work that still needs to be done!
Which strategy would you say worked better for the seller?
So that’s the story of Laguna. But there are many other stories out there right across the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area. Some listed close to market value & getting less (or sometimes slightly more through multiple offers), & some grossly under-priced & achieving the same thing or way more. Confusing? Yes it is, lol!
Perhaps adding to the confusion is the fact that the average price in Durham was also up slightly in January along with many of our other key metrics – see the full breakdown HERE
The reason why a home won't sell is that it is either priced incorrectly or poorly presented -Quote from a real estate book written in the '70s (nothing's changed since)
Other interesting facts are:
Of the 38 detached homes listed in Oshawa, Clarington & Whitby in the past 2 days, 17 are holding offers. Half of the remaining are asking for a minimum of 24-48hrs irrevocable (time to respond to the offer, in hopes that more offers will come in to compete). And we've seen double digit offer counts on many homes so far this week as well.
In Oshawa there have been 7 freehold homes listed under $600k that have sold so far this month, & the list-to-sold ratio (percentage of the list price that a home sells for) was between 100% & 147%.
The one that sold for 147% was purchased in 2019 for $286k, then fully renovated & sold for $735k via a bully offer last week (originally listed at $499k). Would they have achieved the same results if they’d chosen a different listing strategy? We’ll never know…Interesting to note that even though they did a beautiful renovation, & it had all the same specs, they still didn’t get as much as Laguna did, lol! In all fairness, they did do well for the central Oshawa location!
The one that sold for 100% (actually 100%+$2K) was purchased in 2021 for $550k & sold for $521k yesterday after being on the market since May…another central Oshawa location, but they did NOT do well & they tried every strategy they could think of in almost 9mos on the market!
Sooooooo…all that being said, CONTEXT is what is needed to navigate this market & any market, really! Whether it’s a seller’s, buyer’s or a balanced one, looking beyond the surface is what will serve you best. And the news headlines & social media posts that you’re reading probably aren’t doing that! Multiple offers & a high percentage over the list price sounds great (or scary depending on which side of the table you’re on) but dig a little deeper & it’s possibly a much different story.
I’ve often found recently that the selling price is at or below what the sellers purchased it for (if they purchased in the last couple of years), & that certainly changes things! Like the one I wrote about above, & there’s another one in Courtice that comes to mind, which sold at the end of January. The home was purchased in August of 2022 & then money was spent on renovations. I ballpark their losses at more than $60k once you factor in selling costs, renovation costs & a selling price that was less than what they purchased for! Painful!
We’re living in confusing times, that’s for sure! One thing is for certain though, when a seller gets multiple offers, it gives them peace of mind that they have achieved the highest price that their largest asset will command (at a given moment in time) & if they’re in a situation where every dollar counts, that peace of mind is priceless!
And for those who say it’s an unethical practice, it’s important to remember that the listing agent works for the seller. Owes fiduciary duties to the seller. Their job is to get the seller the highest price that the market will bear. This listing strategy has proven time & again, over many years, to be the most effective at achieving that. And even when it doesn’t “work” it IS actually working! Because of the message that delivers… 😉
Until next time,
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