Sunday, August 24, 2008

First house offer failed~

It has been a very busy week. I got a project due at work and also busy working with my agent on my first offer ever to a home that I like. The house inspection report has no major repair needed. My agent got some information from the seller's agent that there will be multiple offers on the house. So we decided to make our offer attractive by removing all contigency except a 500USD of home protection plan and shorten the closing time to less than a month. On the offering price, since it is the first week of the open house, we decided to add another 8k on top of the asking price (and yes I was a bit hesitant and reluctant whether I should put the offer over the asking price since it is supposed to be a buyer market now).

We submitted the offer on wednesday but on thursday morning, I am told that the house is sold at a higher price (within the first week of listing!). It is a bit of set back for me and hopefully I will be able to find a better house next time.

Monday, August 18, 2008

First Potential House Offer!

Continued my open house visiting spree this weekend. Visited quite a few open houses and there are always a crowd of people. Maybe all the parents are trying to move in before the summer ended so their kids are able to register in time for the fall semester in the new school district.

There are a couple nice houses this weekend that are newly remodeled and with nice floorplan. I am a believer in the first instinct where I always made my decision on a house on the first few steps into that house. There is one house that I particularly liked. It has good neighborhood and good school district, open floorplan, hardwood floor, bright living and family rooms with windows and skylight. The sunlight shinning in the living room thru a window door and a few wide floor-to-ceiling windows that makes the living room bright and comfortable. I have a chat with the listing agent and the property has no major fixing required except the fumigation.

Gonna check with our agent today to request for the detail house inspection report and also to discuss a strategy of a potential offer.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Real Estate Outside United States US

It have been awhile since I last posted on this blog. I was on a two-weeks long vacation to Hong Kong and Taiwan. It was a fun trip. The food is good, people are friendly however the weather is hot.

I happened to walk by a few real estate companies on the street while on vacation. I spent some times to understand the current real estate market in these countries.

The housing market is starting to cool down a bit but you will be surprise to see the house price to salary ratio in these two countries are so much higher than in US. A single family home is worth way over a million USD in these countries and the normal working class is only able to afford a unit in a apartment complex. Even for a good apartment unit at the prime location in Taipei is worth close to a million USD too.
The price per square feet in Hong Kong is even higher compared to Taipei and US.

I am wondering how can these markets sustain these high housing price. Does that mean there is still room for US housing market to go higher? Time will tell.