For Sale, But Not For Long

Karen Daly headed out Sunday to tour a renovated Natick house, confident she would be one of the few home hunters on a cold afternoon during which people were prepping for Super Bowl parties.

But when Daly arrived at the three-bedroom, $449,000 Cape, she found herself among a half-dozen other disappointed prospective buyers who learned that the seller had already accepted an offer. It wasn’t Daly’s first real estate letdown. Last month, she bid more than $20,000 above the asking price for a house in Framingham -- and lost out.

“If you are a buyer, you have to be very decisive, you can’t hesitate,’’ said Daly, 55, who sold her house in two days last summer and has been renting in Newton. “You are looking at very low inventory and very steep competition.’’

See the entire article at Boston.com: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/02/13/for_sale_but_not_for_long/