Leslie recently took a listing on a very cute Woodbridge (Ventura) condominium. She had an open house this past Sunday afternoon and listed the home on the MLS on Monday.

A long and steady stream of would be buyers and “looky-lous”came by on Sunday, and when the listing hit the MLS on Monday, things went crazy.

Leslie opened the home up Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 and again at 5:00 so more agents could show the property to their clients. When she left the office for the latter showing, I tagged along – curious to watch “the show”.

3 parties viewed the home at the latter showing – and all ultimately made offers.  Leslie already had in hand over half a dozen offers before that last showing.

So as Leslie and I were sitting on the sofa as these individuals previewed the home, she leaned over and whispered to me “This is pathetic”. What did she mean?

I asked her that question. She said the real estate market was all screwed up, forcing so many buyers to chase such few deals.

A healthy market allows previous first time buyers of a small condo the ability to sell and buyer a bigger condo; those people then sell and buy a small house; those people then buy a bigger house; ultimately, those people will begin to downsize in later years.

Not today. Too many people are upside down (or “underwater”) and can’t sell – even if they wanted to move up (or down). So there’s limited inventory and thus the crazy market we’re seeing