Comments on: Nothing special, just two days on market and almost gone (1914 Filbert #C)

By: Sophie

Sophie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:26:39 +0000

Oliver, I totally agree. But now, what if the offer with only 5% down was from a 70old gay black?

And that guy sued you for discrimination?

that’s a lot of whatif, but my point is that there is the BS about verbotten discrimination, and there is the reality. It’s a business, and parties try to find the best possible other party (sellers chosing the buyer, agents chosing their clients and clients chosing both agents and properties).

Banks discriminate when they lend mortgages. And they absolutly discriminate regarding age. (oh yeah.. they do it “legally” by using the credit history. less than 5years credit history = you’re too young to apply for a mortgage for example). So if the seller uses the same criteria to accept an offer on the basis of more likelihood of closing the deal – then it’s not discrimination IMO. it’s common sense selection.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:56:39 +0000

there is a big difference between *discrimination* and common sense selection. when I sold my house I had multiple bids on it and did not sell it to the highest bidder. why, because the highest bidder offered 5% down and had shaky finances at best. I sold to somebody who put 15% down and better finances. to me that is not discrimination but common sense.

other buyers should not see what other offers are given either since their can be a lot of confidential information in there. unless it is a public auction.

By: sanfrantim

sanfrantim — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:53:27 +0000

good unit. good neighborhood. good price. no surprise here.

By: Sophie

Sophie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:40:31 +0000

re “secret’ I meant the offers are not public, and prospective buyers cannot read the other offers to have proof of discrimination or of non-discrimination.

By: Sophie

Sophie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:39:03 +0000

re discrimination.

BS: it does exist. if it didnt why would agents push buyers to write a BS letter to try to get the deal?

and all the stuff about a couple married vs a couple not married (names on the deposit check for example)

as long as there are offer dates and multiple offers, THERE WILL BE DISCRIMINATION. simply because those offers are secret and because the only non discrimatory scale being the offer price is NOT the only criteria used by sellers to pick the wiining bid.

if we are to enforce a true no discrimination market, then offers are anonymous as in no names, no detail about the buyers’s status (single, couple, contractor, developer etc and of course no SSN, no bank information etc), and somehow it should even be anonymous as for the representing agent.

unfortunatly, I believe true anonyma would hurt the market more than anything, because sellers would get cold feet, and couldnt use their gut feeling that the deal will indeed close.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:29:40 +0000

“The age restriction applies to the bottom 2 units only, not the top unit”

So the young-ins can party all night on top of the old farts?

Nice. I’m sure that won’t cause any tension at the HOA meetings.

(If old and reading this, sorry for calling you a fart.)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:14:30 +0000

The age restriction applies to the bottom 2 units only, not the top unit

By: ResortatSquawCreek

ResortatSquawCreek — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:17:27 +0000

I’m assuming since this building has a age rule, it has an elevator? Since, that would just not make sense if the pent house unit require only elderly, and one had to walk up 3 flights of stairs

By: james

james — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:19:22 +0000

i find it quite interesting that a town such as ours has allowed even seniors to discriminate in their housing projects

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:01:10 +0000

No need to get into a civil rights debate on the frontsteps. Yes, people’s definition of discrimination differs based upon their perspective and both of you have merits to your viewpoint.

Anyway, why I found this building interesting is that I did not believe the city began to really incentivize developers to build older persons housing until the last few decades and I incorrectly assumed that this building (based on look, size and location) was built far earlier. Records say 2000 though, so, its not that big of a mystery anymore. Be interested to see exactly what the agent says. cheers.