Getting there first

Joe Ramondetta didn’t believe his agent when she told him “you can’t bid under the asking price in this market.”

Not until he got outbid on three houses.

Ramondetta, 62, a property manager for a financial institution, thought sellers would counter-offer if he entered a low bid.

When he asked why the sellers of an $800,000 home didn’t counter his $730,000 offer, they said, “We got six bids.”

The next house sold for $100,000 over the asking price with 11 offers.

“I was getting very discouraged. … People were paying $50,000 to $100,000 over (the asking price),” Ramondetta said.

Finally, Ramondetta told his agent, Corine Peterson of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Anaheim Hills, “I’ll do whatever you say.”

Peterson was the first to call when the next home in Ramondetta’s price range came on the market. She managed to convince the listing agent to give Ramondetta the deal — without entertaining any other offers — if she got the offer in that same day.

The only problem was she couldn’t find Ramondetta.

“I wasn’t around,” Ramondetta said. “She put little snippets together and tracked me down. She was driving around every block and looking for my car. … And then, she saw me in the window.”

“We have to get to the agent right now,” Peterson told him when he came to the door.

This time, Ramondetta offered to pay the asking price, $830,000. And after the inspection, Peterson convinced the seller to drop