Maybe someone can explain this to me-NEW UPDATE! #71

[luvflorida]

Our house is up for sale. We got an offer yesterday, the first one in a long time. Our house is priced well below market value. It is a very nice house, extremely well maintained inside and outside. Everything is in very good shape. All the feedback we've gotten from showings has been excellent.

The offer we got yesterday is for $45,000. under the asking price. Now I understand that anyone has the right to make ANY offer they want. But seriously, THAT much under the asking price, especially knowing that the house is already priced well under market value?!?!

I just can't understand someone coming in with an offer so low. Do they really think we're going to say yes, or even counteroffer with something close to their offer? We're willing to negotiate, but honestly, they're so far off the mark that it's insulting.

I very seldom vent here about anything, but this really got to me. This whole house selling thing has been a real pain in the you-know-where!

If someone is really interested in buying a house, don't you think they'd be a little more realistic in their offer?

 

[HM]

They are hoping your are desperate. They see how long your house has been on the market and hope for a 'steal'.

 

[scrapquitler]

Unfortunately, I think that with the way the economy is, an awful lot of buyers are assuming that ALL sellers are desperate and will sell at any price just to have the house sold.

And besides that, most buyers don't expect their first offer to be accepted, they expect the first offer to be an opening place to start the negotiations.

That said, you can either start negotiating them up from the offer, or you can reject it outright.

 

[ICF]

They are hoping your are desperate. They see how long your house has been on the market and hope for a 'steal'.

agreed

 

[golfgal]

It's a business decision, which as a homeowner is hard to separate out. Buyers know how long your house has been on the market and a lot of people would be happy with ANY offer so there are people out there lowballing to see if they can get a good deal on a house. Counter with an offer $5000 under what you are asking and see if they bite.

 

[barkley]

they don't know what your financial situation is-if you have no equity and can't budge, or equity and might budge.

i look to the neighborhood we used to live in-even though the homes have dropped in value by 50% since spring 2007 there are still some owners that bought new in 2001, did'nt pull equity out of their homes and therefore the identical asking price for their home has them looking to clear over $125,000 after their r/e commissions. that allows for some wiggle room in negotiations.


it's a buyer's market these days, and the buyers have a huge invantory of homes to choose from.

 

[Sanchez]

Perhaps they think that you are unrealistic in your pricing and base it on the fact that the home has been listed for a while and not yet sold. They may have based the offer on comparable sales in the area. No reason to be insulted. You have the absolute right to say no and wait on a better contract.

 

[horseshowmom]

It's a business decision, which as a homeowner is hard to separate out. Buyers know how long your house has been on the market and a lot of people would be happy with ANY offer so there are people out there lowballing to see if they can get a good deal on a house. Counter with an offer $5000 under what you are asking and see if they bite.

I agree with this completely. My parents are retired in Florida but just decided to buy another house back here to make it easier to split their time between places.

While they were here this summer, they started looking. They found a nice house that had been on the market for over a year. It's immaculate and even came furnished. They made a firm offer of 20% less than was being asked. That's all they were willing to pay (and the house was definitely NOT overpriced to start with). The owners immediately accepted it.

It wasn't personal, and they weren't trying to be insulting. They just know that in the current market there are bargains to be had for buyers. If not this house, there would have been another one.

I do understand where you're coming from. We are contemplating selling our house now, and I dread when we actually reach the point of putting it up for sale. I know it will be no fun at all.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

They know your house is a tough sell so they are just seeing if you are ready to let it go for a low ball offer.

Their offer shows you that they are only interested in a low ball, so what you do is send them back the asking price and then see what they do after that.

They will either counter or end it.

Anyway that is how I would play that.

 

[luvflorida]

They are hoping your are desperate. They see how long your house has been on the market and hope for a 'steal'.

Well, it definitely would be a steal! We are not desperate to sell and will keep it before we give it away!

Unfortunately, I think that with the way the economy is, an awful lot of buyers are assuming that ALL sellers are desperate and will sell at any price just to have the house sold.

And besides that, most buyers don't expect their first offer to be accepted, they expect the first offer to be an opening place to start the negotiations.

That said, you can either start negotiating them up from the offer, or you can reject it outright.

So true. I know that most buyers don't expect their first offer to be accepted, but I just can't believe these people are sitting back thinking we'll even come close to their offer.

It's a business decision, which as a homeowner is hard to separate out. Buyers know how long your house has been on the market and a lot of people would be happy with ANY offer so there are people out there lowballing to see if they can get a good deal on a house. Counter with an offer $5000 under what you are asking and see if they bite.

It IS hard not to take it personally! We wanted to outright reject the offer, but our real estate agent suggested what you suggest. Go down five thousand and see if they're serious.

 

[golfgal]

If I were in the market to buy I would probably do the same thing, honestly. You can really arrive at the sellers "bottom" that way, knowing you paid as little as possible for the house, which again, is insulting to the owners but it is a business decision. The true value of a home is what someone is willing to pay, not what a realtor thinks someone is willing to pay.

 

[Hannathy]

If I were in the market to buy I would probably do the same thing, honestly. You can really arrive at the sellers "bottom" that way, knowing you paid as little as possible for the house, which again, is insulting to the owners but it is a business decision. The true value of a home is what someone is willing to pay, not what a realtor thinks someone is willing to pay.

I agree and in this market it is what will sell today not even a couple of months ago. I know people in our neighborhood are having a hard time swallowing that their home is worth tens of thousands of dollars less today than a few months ago but it is.

Are you sure your asking price IS still reasonable?

 

[Pigeon]

As you yourself said, it's the first offer you've had in a long time. You may have gotten nice feedback from showings, but that's very different from getting offers. If you don't like it, you don't have to consider it.

They weren't trying to insult you. They may feel, after having looked at other houses, that that price is closer to what your house is worth than the listing price. Again, if you disagree, you either make a counter offer or you just decline and keep the house on the market.

 

[bettymae1121]

I know it's hard not to be insulted, but they were hoping you'd be desperate enough to jump at the deal. They figure the worst you can say is "no" and then they'll know to either come back with a more realistic offer or move on to another house.

Have you done any recent comps? It could be home prices are lower now then when you first listed, and that could account for it. If values have droped, they may not have been low-balling you as much as you think.

 

[Robinrs]

Don't take it personally, they can offer anything they like and yes, they may think you're desparate.

Unfortunately, in a buyers market they can play with any numbers they like. They can also leave and go to another, more desparate, seller, also.

It's ugly but it's reality. If you're NOT desparate, maybe you should wait until the market gets better.

 

[bonoriffic]

It could be worse, a co-worker used this strategy.

He put in a really low offer and the owner laughed him away. He told him nobody would buy at the price he had, and he would be back next month. Sure enough the next month comes and he made another offer, only this time even slightly lower. This dance continued for 6 months, and as the house was now on the market for 2 years the owners decided it was time to negotiate. They were quite upset that he wasn't willing to pay his original offer from 6 months ago, and knew the next month it would go even lower, and finally gave in.

Of course this only works if the buyer is renting or in some position of having no mortgage, kids switching schools, and isn't running against the clock themselves somehow.

 

[horseshowmom]

If I were in the market to buy I would probably do the same thing, honestly. You can really arrive at the sellers "bottom" that way, knowing you paid as little as possible for the house, which again, is insulting to the owners but it is a business decision. The true value of a home is what someone is willing to pay, not what a realtor thinks someone is willing to pay.

I agree. My parents are satisfied with the price they paid, but since the owners accepted it immediately, they suspect they could have gotten it for less. Of course, in this case the house was paid for completely so the owners didn't have to worry about how much was left of the mortgage (adult children were selling the house for their mother who is in assisted living).

The property that we are looking at with our daughter and her husband has two houses on 100 acres. It has been for sale for about a year and a half. It is a nice place with a lot of pluses (established pastures already fenced), but both houses need work. The price is reasonable right now, but our offer will be significantly lower because we know there has been little interest in the property. It's a similar situation as to what my parents bought - adult children selling the property for the mother. They live elsewhere and have no use for the property which is in a very rural area. It would be great for us but not for just anybody. We'll be making an offer the first of the year if it's still for sale.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Our house is up for sale. We got an offer yesterday, the first one in a long time. Our house is priced well below market value. It is a very nice house, extremely well maintained inside and outside. Everything is in very good shape. All the feedback we've gotten from showings has been excellent.

The offer we got yesterday is for $45,000. under the asking price. Now I understand that anyone has the right to make ANY offer they want. But seriously, THAT much under the asking price, especially knowing that the house is already priced well under market value?!?!

I just can't understand someone coming in with an offer so low. Do they really think we're going to say yes, or even counteroffer with something close to their offer? We're willing to negotiate, but honestly, they're so far off the mark that it's insulting.

I very seldom vent here about anything, but this really got to me. This whole house selling thing has been a real pain in the you-know-where!

If someone is really interested in buying a house, don't you think they'd be a little more realistic in their offer?

When people are making a purchase that large, they will try to get the absolute best value they can. They probably figured, what's the harm. If you are desperate and agree to the price, you sell your house and they get the house of their dreams. If you think it's way too low, you'll either counter offer or tell them to forget it.

I think you need to just try and not make it personal, which I know isn't easy. But they're just trying to get the best of what they possibly can. I don't think they're trying to cheat you.

 

[Tinkermommy]

This is nothing to take personally. I know it's your home but it is a business transaction.

We once offered $60k less and the sellers asking price. They came back with "we're insulted" and not a counter offer. I don't understand that. We wanted to negotiate and never expected them to just take our offer, but we wanted the lowest price we could get.

That house sat for well over a year and that was during the time that the housing market started to slump. I often wondered what they were able to sell it for. I am sure it was no where near their asking price.

As another pp said, your house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it and what you are willing to accept.

 

[ilovejack02]

Put our house on the market two weeks after Katrina hit our area.

No offers for about a month, in the meantime we moved into our new home. Because house was empty I guess people thought we were desperate, which we were not in any way shape or form.

First offer was about 35,000 less LOL, didn't respond.
2nd offer by same man was a little better but only by about 5k.
We continued to ignore all offers from him until we got about 10 k away from our price .

Ended up getting almost what we originally asked about 2 months later, guy really wanted our house, but we figured that out after about the 4th offer from him LOL. We just hung on for awhile longer .

It is just business , everyone wants the best deal possible.