Sunday my partner, Tilton, and I did another open house in Norris Canyon Estates at the only bank-owned home left in the community, 554 Wycombe Ct. The other bank owned home which had been on the market 5 MONTHS went pending late last week, which was the huge 6650 square foot elite model, and it’s going to close at $1,700,000 so the one on Wycombe, at 5,312 sq. ft, currently listed at $1,699,000 somehow just doesn’t compare in my mind.

Yes Wycombe has one of the best locations in all of Norris Canyon Estates… but still, how much is a (unlandscaped) lot worth? With 14 other homes still available we had plenty of people out looking and it’s hard to believe all the media hype about the terrible market when we had a constant parade of people all afternoon looking to spend $1 1/2 million on new digs.

Normally our open houses run three hours.. from 1-4 PM. Yesterday we had people already waiting as I pulled up to open at 12:45 and the traffic was thick all afternoon so we ended up hosting this until just after 5:00! We counted 21 groups, which is fantastic!

Now this home is gorgeous! Lots of upgrades and the bank keeps coming down on the price $50,000 every 3 weeks or so. So now it’s down to $1,699,000. Everybody thinks it’s stunning, especially the lot which is a mostly level 1/2 acre at the end of a cul-de-sac with sweeping views to die for! Yet, the offers are all lowball in the $1,400,000 neighborhood. Well, we all know that everybody is looking for “a deal” so I;m not surprised and it’s actually kind of fun hearing all the people telling us how fantastic the home is and offering $300,000 below list price… even “all cash”… thinking that the bank cares about that. The bank doesn’t… and we politely apologize for the bank… all of them (the banks) seem to be living in another universe when it comes to logic.

It’s gotten to the point where we finally printed up a “How to Buy a Bank Owned Property FAQ” to pass out which we hope will instill some sanity into the droves of buyers in the market for a $1.5 million dollar home in San Ramon. Banks work slowly… so if you really want one of these deals, let me tell you that patience is what you need. It just takes time for the bank to slowly ratchet down the asking price until it gets attractive enough for buyers to begin making reasonable offers.

As a rule of thumb, banks will definitely look at any offer within 5% of asking price. It does NOT matter that the price it ends up selling for might be only $1,500,000… if they are asking $1,699,000.. .let’s keep it real until another 3 weeks pass and they drop it to $1,649,000… THEN come in with your $1,500,000 offer. The only risk you take is that another buyer likes the house a little more than you do and offers a little more a little sooner.

So 554 Wycombe, San Ramon remains on the market and we’ll gladly be back at open house again over labor day weekend passing out our FAQ and enjoying the stunning view from Norris Canyon Estates last bank owned property.

PS: I’ll have to tell you a funny story about the ugly yellow “open house” signs that we use. Next time

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