Our first house was "my" house.  Near my Mom.  Just the right size. In a cul'de sac In a neighborhood I knew, where I could walk around and even walk to my Mom's if I was feeling energetic.  Down the street from the church.  Around the corner from the hospital.  I thought I'd live there forever.

On our first vacation we were sitting on the beach, and my husband started talking about our first single home (vs. a "twin") and I was amazed that he was already thinking about moving.  The house was just getting to be "our" home with the changes we were making.

Our second house was "his" house.  I was panicked at the price and payment.  I even went to the minister and said "I think I'd rather have a divorce than a $100,000 mortgage!"  It was across the bridge in NJ from everyone I knew.  It was gorgeous and big on a half acre, but too much for me to handle with three little ones and a full time job.  I finally freaked out and we sold it.  (I switched to real estate then, before I sold it)

Our third house was a transition house that wasn't really suited to us, but the kids really liked it.  I insisted we qualify on his income only as I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a 6 mo. old.

Our fourth house everyone liked and was in the same neighborhood as the third house...

It's why I never forget that when I am working with a married couple, I have two clients and not one.  Best for everyone to like it.  OK if one likes it more than the other.  But not OK if one compromises too much and isn't comfortable in their home.

NEW ON MARKET!?!?

I am sad to report that the newest home on market as of this very moment, is not new on market at all.  That wasn't the original point of this article, but I will have to include it because in finding the most recent home on market by mls# sequence and then hitting property history...unfortunately it was a RULE BREAKER who cancelled the "old" listing and obtained a new listing number.  This is happening less often, but apparently still a problem.

Generally speaking, mls #2603498x will have been on market longer that 2611476x.  Numbers are issued in sequence.  So as a "rule of thumb", you can rely on this system when looking at property in public sites.  Days on market are "cumulative", so when a property gets a new listing number due to change of agent, the days on market will be "intact" and "accurate".

But, unfortunately, some agents don't know there is a new rule making it a no-no to Cancel a listing and bring it back simultaneously as "new on market".  I doubt this message will make it to every single agent in the mls.  So do your due diligence when determining if a property is REALLY New on Market! or just a regurgitation of an old stale listing.

Do not totally rely on Days on Market, as a slight change in address can alter the accuracy of days on market as well.  Any agent with access to the mls system can double check the accuracy for you.  Make sure they hit the Property History button and print out that property history for you.  There is no other way to determine the accuracy of the data.  Personally, I call a listing that came off market and back on a few months later, stale, and not New on Market.  So be sure to look at the ENTIRE history to see if they tried and failed to sell it last year, and the year before that, etc...

Using Escalation Clauses to "beat" the highest offer, is a relatively new concept.  Before Escalation Clauses, when we received more than one offer on a property, the buyers were often put on "Notice of Final and Best".  They each put their best offer in a sealed envelope, the envelopes were opened all at the same time.  If the seller was lucky, one stood out from the crowd by a substantial margin, and that person got the house.

Let's say the owner receives ten offers.  How does the seller choose from those ten offers?  Sometimes receiving too many offers is overwhelming, and the seller doesn't like having the fate of ten families, all wanting his house, in his hands. 

As a listing agent representing the seller, I would recommend evaluating the buyer qualifications, as the first consideration.  Let's say three of the ten are cash offers.  The other seven may be set aside without consideration for now, and the three cash offers may be given a notice of final and best.  If one of the cash offers is also the highest offer, possibly that one would be accepted on the spot and one or two others would be offered 1st and 2nd backup position.  You can counter the three cash offers, but if you tick off all three, you lose your three best buyers, so not necessarily a good move.  Better to counter one at a time quickly, before the other offers expire, so you only lose one at a time.

The cash offer is given first consideration because when a property bids up over the asking price, it may be bidding up over the amount at which it can appraise.   If the seller accepts the highest offer, without regard to the loan amount, he loses the other 9 when he accepts one. That one can fall apart when the property doesn't appraise, which can leave him with nothing.  Going from ten offers to no sale at all, is painful.  So you pull the ones with the most cash forward.  All cash, then those with more than 20% down and if you have 3 to 5 offers, you reject the zero down to 20% down offers on the spot and counter the higher cash available bidders.