DS and fiancee still keep getting outbid by cash buyers 
Your DS should look beyond the desirable area, if the current area is too hot. Areas such as North San Mateo county with BART access have lot more opportunities.
I mentioned elsewhere that they plan to widen their net. But at present I think they still plan to stay in the city. No point in looking for houses where they dont want to live, and they dont want to live in the 'burbs.
Question about El Cerrito Hills –
So why are there nice-looking houses – with bay views! – in what appears on google maps to be nice neighborhoods – that cost a lot less than their counterparts in, say, Albany or Kensington? Is the area of El Cerrito hills really so much less desirable, and if so why? Here’s an example: http://■■■■■■/ytfsJ4
Jym626, are there contingencies with your son’s bids?
Has your son been the highest bidder and lost out to a lower cash bid?
No contingencies but of course they are financing. They lose to cash buyers.
But are the cash buyers bidding more?
More than your son?
We just found out the first place my daughter bid on sold for a little less than her bid.
Looks a little squirrely. Broker might have reoresented the buyer and the seller. Maybe the price was reneogiated after something was found. Maybe no contingencies on the winning bid. Maybe the seller took an all cash bid. Maybe the seller’s realtor screwed up.
Maybe it was the arbitration clause. 
I can’t understand kids these days, they all want to stay in the City, even with reverse commute. This girl I know her since grade school got a job with Apple, she’d rather pay $3000+ rent to stay in the city then rent a comfortable apt next to the job. What she had to do is take two company buses in the morning from the city to Cupertino and transfer to her office, daily commute time 2.5~3 hours. The apartment next to her office is much less than $3000 and the commute time will be 3 min. each way.
Another kid who just got a job in Google is doing the same thing.
When they have kids then they will think differently.
Artloversplus…
Yes…
Understand all of this, artlovers. And they have a plan. They want to be in the city with a good walk score and proximity to the things that are important to them. They anticipate staying in the house for, IIRC at least 7 years, and then perhaps if there are kids and schools issues, to move then, with the equity in the current house helping to purchase another. They would rather continue to rent where they are until the right thing comes along than buy in an area they don’t want to be in. Who wants to spend that kind of $$ and not love where they live? Makes perfect sense to me. They have their priorities, and travel issues in opposite directions factored into their decision.
artlovers, the kids in Seattle are doing the same thing. Paying through the nose to rent a ratty place on Capitol Hill and commuting an hour plus to their MSFT jobs!
dstark,
I am not sticking my nose in to that level. I only know what they share. They are bidding competitively. The last one was a hail mary bid, which they knew going into it.
Love and hate are all relative…
If you are facing a choice of HYPS full freight, State School half price and U Alabama Free Ride, what would you choose? At the end, the results probably would be the same.
The kid who just got a job with Google from my post above, had a HS gpa of 2.3 and sat of 1500(total) went to Elizabathtown College, go figure.
Hmmmm…
Then again, it did take my brother a year to buy a house. He was out bid several times. He bought in East Richmond across the Richmond Bridge and the east side of hwy 80. A little north of Berkeley.
Not the Richmond District in SF. Artloversplus knows the area I am talking about.
My brother was not an all cash buyer.
I would think that your son’s agent would like him to buy a place. She is not getting paid to lose out on deals.
My daughter is so communicative. I wonder what I would know if my son was buying a place.
Agent is a he.
Artlovers,
this is their choice, and they are clear on it. Its not worth discussing.
Ok…then he isn’t getting paid.
BunsenBurner, My nephew works for Amazon…
He is thinking of buying a condo in Seattle…
jym, I am not arguing… a man has his principle
dstark, yes I know the area your brother is, I buy my electrical supply there and plumbing supply in Albany, not far from there.
Understood. But this has been brought up several times. They know what they want and what location is best for them, given their reverse commutes,. They will broaden their search to some other neighborhoods. When they lived here, I wouldn’t have lived in the part of town they chose and they wouldn’t live in ours.
They loved living in the east bay, but it is logistically impractical. And they love the small neighborhoods. They will find something. Good news is they are in no hurry, and now they are focusing on the wedding.
Younger s has a totally different priority. He prefers living a few miles from work, and is content to rent with roommates. He has no interest in (nor is he in any position to) buying anything and has no interest in a long commute. To each his own. Good news- if DS#1 is working really ridiculously late, he can crash at DS#2’s place. Its all good.