Now....it all came back to me. I was so busy early last year running around with buyers, getting them pre-approved, writing multiple offers until midnight, searching the MLS, calling listing agents begging for information so I could write a winning offer. No wonder I got burnt out.
But this time it was different. There are almost no REOs for sale; mostly Short Sales. And with those Short Sales the listing agents actually called me back with a variety of stories such as "the buyer just walked", "the buyer didn't qualify" please submit an offer. Which brings me back to my Open House. For some reason, I wasn't getting any interest in this listing that would have sold in 5 hours last year. That feeding frenzy seems to be gone. Maybe buyers are still avoiding Short Sales, maybe they too are burnt out putting in offer after offer only to get their credit ruined after so many "cross-qualifying" credit inquires.
It could be just a weird month in Southern California, a fluke, but anyway I am putting in two offers tomorrow. One on a STANDARD SALE....unheard of in this area. The other on a Short Sale that has no other offers. Maybe I'll be doing more Open Houses.