WWYD- Selling House

[SDSorority]

Hi folks. Here's the scenario:


-Listed house for sale at 168,900 in October
-Dropped price to 164,500 in February
-Dropped price to 159,900 in April
- 2 weeks later accepted an offer for 152,000 plus up to 3500 in closing costs and 500 home warranty.

Inspection came back and they have a laundry list of things they want done. The only thing we have to do is do radon remediation and re-test. Everything else is cosmetic. This was our first ever offer, but there are no houses in the area we are interested in for sale. Should we comply with all if their requests or just do the radon and refuse everything else? We aren't in a rush since there aren't any houses available that we are interested in.... but who knows if we would run into the same thing with another buyer.

We feel like we are being ripped off. What would you do?

 

[clh2]

The radon remediation/retest seem logical to me. That would need to be fixed regardless if you have this person buy your home or someone else does.

The cosmetic issues would "tick me off" beyond irritation. That type of stuff should have been addressed in their offer - "not" as part of the home inspection.

When we purchased our home - our offer was low - and when we presented it to the realtor - we mentioned that the home did not have a sidewalk to from the garage to the front door, there was no CA, there wasn't a bath or Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom etc. (Truth be told - if all these things had been perfect, we wouldn't have been able to afford the house.) 4

What does your realtor say about their counter offer? My first inclination would be to fix the radon - and the buyer can fix the rest at their expense.

 

[allison443]

What kind of cosmetic things and are they inexpensive fixes/can you do them yourself?
Can they break the deal for just "cosmetic" things? Isn't that only for big things like structural etc.?

 

[SDSorority]

That's what we are initially thinking too, and if they pull out of the deal, that's ok because there aren't any other houses that have our eye to move in to yet. I just don't want to lose them- what if no one else gives us an offer?? I'm sure that's just silly worry, but still! Blah.

We haven't talked to the realtor yet- she's coming back from California tomorrow.

 

[LuLuO]

I'd consider what recent comps sold for and whether or not we were over priced to begin with.

How much money are you looking at spending to satisfy the buyers? Will you be upset if the buyer walks and six months or more go by with no other offers? If the current buyers walk, how many more price drops are you willing to do until your house sells? Would it then make sense to let them walk and drop the price another $5k three months down the road or would it be better just to get it over with?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) As for house sales, we have been involved in
. . . buying/selling six house due to job moves
. . . buying/selling fourteen rental houses
2) Most contracts have a $$$ clause for minor or cosmetic repairs.
3) In the past, is the request was under $1,500, it was not an issue.
4) The BUYER was to assume those costs.
5) In my opinion, if you REALLY want to move
. . . if under $500, do the cosmetic work
. . . if over $500, negotiate item by item
6) In my opinion, if you are on the fence about selling
. . . if under $500, do the work
. . . if over $500, tell them no

NOTE: As you have already said, you have reduced the house price. If
you pass on the offer, you might not get another for a while.

 

[Egdisney]

Your house has been on the market for quite a while. I would be nervous about not getting another offer. The longer it sits, the less likely you are to get any offer, let alone a good one. They should have asked for cosmetic things to be fixed in their initial offer. I personally think you are giving them plenty. I am curious as to what they are asking for. If I were you, and this deal doesn't go through, I would take it off of the market for a little bit(I think it is 3 months so it can be considered a new listing) and do the cosmetic changes yourself then relist it at a price that you were wanting initially. I have heard that the market is shifting back to seller's, but I suppose that depends on where you live.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Hi folks. Here's the scenario:


-Listed house for sale at 168,900 in October
-Dropped price to 164,500 in February
-Dropped price to 159,900 in April
- 2 weeks later accepted an offer for 152,000 plus up to 3500 in closing costs and 500 home warranty.

Inspection came back and they have a laundry list of things they want done. The only thing we have to do is do radon remediation and re-test. Everything else is cosmetic. This was our first ever offer, but there are no houses in the area we are interested in for sale. Should we comply with all if their requests or just do the radon and refuse everything else? We aren't in a rush since there aren't any houses available that we are interested in.... but who knows if we would run into the same thing with another buyer.

We feel like we are being ripped off. What would you do?

I'd start with the idea that there's something going on with your house that's keeping it on the market too long--and 6 months with only 1 offer would be too long for me. Likeliest issues are the price is too high and/or there are some issues with the house that are significant enough to turn people off.

So I'd take the issues the prospective buyer listed with the idea that you're getting an inside look at what may be causing the problems, and if you don't fix it for this buyer, you may very well end up having to fix them to sell the house, anyway.

OTOH, if you don't have to hurry to get out of the house, or get into a new one, don't feel like you have to bend over too far to accept an offer you don't like. Nothing wrong with continuing to list it and maybe work on issues to make it more attractive for buyers at a better price.

 

[Karlzmom]

I would not look at it as you have "already" dropped your price. The house got no bites at the price you wanted, which means it was *overpriced,* regardless of what you think it was worth to start.

You have your house listed at a price that has generated an offer. Within 2 weeks of hitting the *right* price. Now you are questioning if you should make concessions or hold out for a better offer. BTDT.

Its tough to separate the emotion from the business of selling your home, but it is critical. You can not take it personally that someone is criticizing something you haven't noticed or didn't care to deal with while you lived there. Keep in mind the end game...you want to sell your house.

When we had a similar situation, here's how I reasoned it all out.

1. How far from the *right* price is the final price going to be. NOT what is the number from your original/over priced price.

2. Think about your current house payment. If you had to carry the house for another month, you are already *deducting* from your payout. Are you going to get an offer with better terms for you before you have to make another house payment? If not, then you are effectively reducing the "gain" you hoped to get out of the deal by the amount of your next house payment.

3. Repeat however many months it takes until the next offer comes in. I'd take a long hard look at your local market and have a long talk with your agent. This is where they earn their commission. Your agent should be able to give you insight into how active the local market is...still won't be a guarantee of another offer, but if the market is stone cold that might help you realistically get a picture of how many months you may need to be prepared to carry the house waiting for an offer that you like better.

I am not a real estate agent, just someone who has bought and sold a number of homes over the last 15 years. The rule that your first offer is usually your best has been my experience.

Best of Luck to you and let us know what you decide to do...

 

[kiki02]

I would not look at it as you have "already" dropped your price. The house got no bites at the price you wanted, which means it was *overpriced,* regardless of what you think it was worth to start.

You have your house listed at a price that has generated an offer. Within 2 weeks of hitting the *right* price. Now you are questioning if you should make concessions or hold out for a better offer. BTDT.

Its tough to separate the emotion from the business of selling your home, but it is critical. You can not take it personally that someone is criticizing something you haven't noticed or didn't care to deal with while you lived there. Keep in mind the end game...you want to sell your house.

When we had a similar situation, here's how I reasoned it all out.

1. How far from the *right* price is the final price going to be. NOT what is the number from your original/over priced price.

2. Think about your current house payment. If you had to carry the house for another month, you are already *deducting* from your payout. Are you going to get an offer with better terms for you before you have to make another house payment? If not, then you are effectively reducing the "gain" you hoped to get out of the deal by the amount of your next house payment.

3. Repeat however many months it takes until the next offer comes in. I'd take a long hard look at your local market and have a long talk with your agent. This is where they earn their commission. Your agent should be able to give you insight into how active the local market is...still won't be a guarantee of another offer, but if the market is stone cold that might help you realistically get a picture of how many months you may need to be prepared to carry the house waiting for an offer that you like better.

I am not a real estate agent, just someone who has bought and sold a number of homes over the last 15 years. The rule that your first offer is usually your best has been my experience.

Best of Luck to you and let us know what you decide to do...

I find it odd and not very decent, that they didn't discuss the cosmetic in the offer. How appropriate is it to do it at inspection. ?

 

[LuLuO]

I find it odd and not very decent, that they didn't discuss the cosmetic in the offer. How appropriate is it to do it at inspection. ?

When we made an offer on our house, there were cosmetic things that we didn't notice which were pointed out by our inspector. The siding was cracked in a few places, a small part of the backyard fence had caught fire and was burned (how we missed that, I don't know), there were no GFIs in the kitchen. Things like that. We asked them to repair the fence and it turned out there was a major problem with the sewer line (recommend everyone get a sewer inspection in addition to the regular home inspection) so they fixed that. I don't recall asking them to fix anything else. But, sometimes people just don't notice things on the first or second or even third time visiting a house. That's what inspectors are for.

 

[Dizisfun]

I wouldn't fix them. We sold a house in 2010. We were asking $237,000 ended up selling it for $217,000. Then they wanted a new roof from us and our front load washer and dryer. We refused to do either. Although we did finally sell them the washer and dryer for a total of $750. I felt like we got ripped off on what we let them have the house for. But my husband was the one eager to sell and move.

 

[tvguy]

I wouldn't fix them. We sold a house in 2010. We were asking $237,000 ended up selling it for $217,000. Then they wanted a new roof from us and our front load washer and dryer. We refused to do either. Although we did finally sell them the washer and dryer for a total of $750. I felt like we got ripped off on what we let them have the house for. But my husband was the one eager to sell and move.

I agree.

My only experience with selling a home involved the probate sale of my MIL's home. We did the repairs legally required. Buyer wanted modifications made to the garage which been converted to a room.....because....in his counter offer......he felt it did not meet code. DW declined and included the note that "buyer may wish to address any code issues with the garage converstion with the person who did the work". Apparently the buyer didn't realize DW knew HE (as in the buyer) was the person who did the converstion for her mom. Counter offer was accepted.

 

[Sarahlovy]

We lve in a smallish town, and when we were buying a house, we knew every house that had had a deal fall through and why, and if it was something that we felt was just the seller being difficult, we didn't even look at the house. Realtors talk.

 

[seashoreCM]

I agree.

My only experience with selling a home involved the probate sale of my MIL's home. We did the repairs legally required. Buyer wanted modifications made to the garage which been converted to a room.....because....in his counter offer......he felt it did not meet code. DW declined and included the note that "buyer may wish to address any code issues with the garage converstion with the person who did the work". Apparently the buyer didn't realize DW knew HE (as in the buyer) was the person who did the converstion for her mom. Counter offer was accepted.

You mean you did agree to pay for the last modifications to the garage that the buyer/contractor wanted?

 

[sweetdana]

I would counter with 500$ more in concessions and no repairs. (except required).

500$ is nothing, but it will get them 500$ less at closing. ( as sellers concession bring down required cash to closing, where changing price will not.)


152K plus 4K in concessions. You will both win.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

This is your only offer in 6 months, I would make some minor cosmetic repairs if it keeps the deal on the table.

 

[*JoGo*]

I think it depends on what the cosmetic problems are. New carpet? Nope. Wall color? Nope. If something is not up to code, it should be fixed. But code issues are not the same as cosmetic issues, IMO.

We are buying a house. The inspector pointed out a few things we didn't notice- one being a couple holes in the siding, probably from rocks thrown by the mower, and there's a ripple where they put a grill too close to the house. Another was some side pieces (i dont know what its called) missing up by roof. Neither things will cause any damage structurally, but are things we did not notice.

To a PP that mentioned GFIs by sink- that's not up to code and should be fixed by seller.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

when we listed our other house we got some crazy offers but the one that I wouldnt even think about was the one that wanted to pick out new paint colors and have us hire someone to do it . The house was painted the week we moved out into our new house , so it didnt need it at all . They also asked for us to have the pool painted blue and for us to leave ALL the patio furniture and lighting including some torches I bought to match the furniture that I paid 100 bucks each for !By the time I got half way through the paper I called and told our agent to tell them we were not even going to look at the offer any further.

They wanted about 15 -20 things that were crazy . Leave our freezer in the garage ?? on top of that it was not even a full price offer .


They put in another offer and I never saw it because I told our agent I didnt care if they offered full price they were nuts . LOL They were first time home buyers and thought they could get everything

 

[Srbright]

I find it odd and not very decent, that they didn't discuss the cosmetic in the offer. How appropriate is it to do it at inspection. ?

That is what the inspection is for .....