It was no surprise that Carla Vanderdeen-Fenech knew Hamilton would be a tough place to buy a home in late 2020. She did not expect to live in a friend’s basement for five months, even though she had made a hefty down payment on a $1.1 million house. In her view, Vanderdeen-Fenech’s family wouldn’t be living in a basement if agents didn’t break the law to get as much money as possible from buyers.

She and her family were living in their friend’s basement for two months after their house in Mississauga was sold in November. There was a brick-and-stone home with a fireplace that was offered for $1.1 million on Hamilton Mountain – it had a two-car garage and room for Ontario Real Estate her three kids, including two with special needs.

A Vanderdeen-Fenech couple offered $1,100,017 for the house in early February, with a 9 a.m. closing date, she said. The listing agent, who listed the home for $900,000, said there were 23 other offers, and one must be chosen within 48 hours.

Her realtor told Vanderdeen-Fenech that the listing agent called at 2 p.m. a couple of hours after her offer expired, saying hers was “one of the top five, and we had the largest deposit.” But there was an offer for $80,000 more, the listing agent said, so Vanderdeen-Fenech must do better.

When all offers were presented at 9 a.m. if he had an offer $80,000 greater than ours, why didn’t he accept it? Then why is he calling us five hours later?”.

How Does A Seller’s Market Work?

If there are more buyers than there are houses for sale, it is a seller’s market. There are fewer listings to choose from, so there is more competition, resulting in fast home sales with multiple offers and even bidding wars. The seller is in a stronger position when the market is a seller’s market. It is not the time to make lowball offers.

The number of homes for sale is greater than the number of buyers in a buyer’s market. Due to the lower competition, buyers have more negotiating power and can shop around at their leisure. Prices of homes for sale are likely to fluctuate.

The market is balanced if there are an equal number of buyers and sellers, so that average days on market are reasonable. Home prices are more likely to remain stable when buyer and seller tension is lower.

How Do You Buy A Home In A Seller’s Market?

A successful transaction begins with a thorough understanding of the market. Even in a seller’s market, this is true, but it is more so if you are trying to buy a home. Because real estate is highly localized, what is happening in one neighborhood may not be the same elsewhere. It can be helpful to hire a professional, experienced real estate agent in this situation.

The Bid Was Lower Than The Higher Bid

According to Vanderdeen-Fenech, the listing agent also assumed she was from Toronto, telling her, “you Toronto people have all the money.”

The seller did not raise Vanderdeen-Fenech’s offer. It didn’t sell for $80,000 more than she offered.The incident involving Vanderdeen-Fenech is not isolated, says ReMax Escarpment Golfi Realty Inc. agent Rob Golfi.

In a phone interview, he said, “I see that happening … [agents] say, ‘OK, do better.’ But do we have to do better?” The world is full of bad things, but it is hard to prove them.”

There haven’t been any more disciplinary actions. The complaints led to 38 percent of the agents paying fines and completing education courses, and five percent were prosecuted (losing their license).

“A hot market has more people involved, more room for complaints, whether it’s disappointed people in a bidding war or some undesirable behavior,” Buchan said. “Our goal is to reach a point where only five percent of complaints actually have serious consequences.