It is because Realtors are crooks. That's about it. We also had to tack down assignment clauses so that realtors wouldn't re-sell their client's houses for more and pocket the difference.

I also want to see mandatory home inspection, seems common sense.

I'm more interested in mandatory house inspections at a regular intervals, rather than as part of a sale.

Ew, nobody needs more mandatory red tape for their private property. Busybodies like you make life a hellish nightmare of compliance with crushing systems that bloat their way into every facet of life. What you are describing is megalomania by slices.

I'm not sure why "amount over reserve / list" is a meaningful metric. It's clear that in a lot of cases the list prices are intentionally below market to attract more bidders and produce the appearance of more competition at open houses and the like.

It's a very manipulated and manipulable metric.

>I'm not sure why "amount over reserve / list" is a meaningful metric.

It's not. The salient part is that the current market is crazy and there is a large number of bids on any given house.

>It's clear that in a lot of cases the list prices are intentionally below market to attract more bidders and produce the appearance of more competition at open houses and the like.

Yes, list prices are intentionally below market but you know what ... houses are going for crazy amounts because we are in some sort of a bubble. This isn't the fault of blind bidding, or unscrupulous realtors or greed property owners. There are systemic economic issues at play. In my area, for example, there are houses that doubled in value in under 24 months. When I bought my property 12 years ago, there was blind bidding, and bad realtors, but on any given property there were only 2-3 bids, so there was no issue.

> Yes, list prices are intentionally below market but you know what ... houses are going for crazy amounts because we are in some sort of a bubble

Why? The last 40 years interest rates have continued to decline and inflationary pressures have hurt the value of every currency. What reason is there to believe this won't continue indefinitely (low interest + ~2% y/y inflation) and that the market is simply pricing things well?

Clearly all these homes are being bought so it would appear people have the money.

>Clearly all these homes are being bought so it would appear people have the money.

Yes ... Back in 2007, people bought homes as well - so everything was OK - rite?

By the way, people aren't paying cash for houses.

Why would you pay cash? I made a cash offer on mine but still took out a loan since interest rates are so low.

Homes are priced based on what people who want to live in a place are willing to pay per month. The interest rate, property tax rate, and home price determine that. As rates go down prices go up.

>Why would you pay cash? I made a cash offer on mine but still took out a loan since interest rates are so low.

That was a response to your statement that 'people have the money'. The larger point is that just because people are buying houses doesn't mean that things are healthy, case in point: 2007/2008 housing crash, which was preceded by a housing bubble and led to a lot of misery.

I don't think it was really a bubble if you look back on it. Yes, some people were exposed (flippers and people that borrowed WAY too much) but anyone that was just buying a property to live in was fine, mainly. If you look at prices from then VS now, they have more than doubled for example. So was it a bubble? Anyone who bought a house at the top then and is still in it is doing just fine.

People have the loans, at least.

Corporations and pensions might have the proper money

Fun fact: you can waive your inspection contingency … and then still go inspect the house.

Just bring your inspector along to a showing or open house, etc. Owners won’t even be there.

You're not going to be able to do a full inspection during an open house, the listing agent isn't going to let you climb on the roof, go into crawlspaces/attic, trip off all the GFCI breakers in the house, etc.

What you're suggesting is called a "walk-and-talk" inspection, and is not going to find the high dollar problems a traditional inspection can find.

" ... the listing agent isn't going to let you climb on the roof, go into crawlspaces/attic ..."

I have done all of those things on home viewings / open houses. I've opened septic risers, started generators, tripped breakers ...

Nervous smiles were the worst responses I've ever gotten.

You, and your sibling poster, are correct though: a real, comprehensive inspection is hours long and no amount of brashness is going to bridge that gap - but there is a LOT you can do with 30 minutes of knowledgeable poking and prying. You don't need an hour to see if the sills are rotting or if there are no foundation anchors ... or if all the floor joists are swiss-cheesed up by 40 years of ad-hoc electrical and plumbing runs ...

You can inspect certain things. But you won't be inspecting to see if there's an oil tank buried in the yard, the quality of the chimney, if there's any radiation in the basement, and plenty of other things.

But yes, you can probably inspect the construction quality and foundation pretty easily, a visual inspection of the roof and siding, and if you care the quality and age of utility appliances. You can also pull the permits if you're really interested before placing a bid. You can probably scan for termite damage, etc.

A decent inspection is a 4 hour job or longer generally in my experience.

Checking for radiation in the basement sounds like something you can do passively as you walk through? All you need is a Geiger counter?

I think because Radon is a gas it’s difficult to do. Every test I’ve seen has to be setup and left in place for a few hours.

I understand that - but if you're seeing a lot of houses, it gets very expensive very quickly to bring an inspector to every showing.