Offer on a house, would you be offened...

[3pletprincesses]

Get your own agent because they will work on your best interest.

As for asking price, we bought our then listed $201K for $175 by simply offering that low price knowing they would come back with a slight higher price and low and below they accepted the offer. We were prepared to pay $190 for it. Doesn't hurt to offer lower then what you really want to pay. Since the house is empty and has been on the market for 58 days, it might be to your advantage to ask the lower price and you might get it

 

[Judique]

Lets say a house is listed for 144,000 is it rude to offer 134,000? I think 134 seems rude, but, hubby doesn't...I would offer 139...need advice on this please. Also...would you use the Realtor that is listing the house or get your own?

Get your own realtor.

Find out what the area is worth and whether the house is priced high, low or is offered at the market price.

Figure out what you want the seller to pay. Do you need closing costs? Does the house need a new roof?

Is the house a short sale, occupied by the owner, a rental, empty,etc?

Get your own realtor to help you evaluate.

If you do put in an offer and it is accepted, get a home inspection.

Get your own realtor. They will help you do your homework.

(Disclaimer: I am not a realtor.)

 

[robinb]

Lets say a house is listed for 144,000 is it rude to offer 134,000? I think 134 seems rude, but, hubby doesn't...I would offer 139...need advice on this please. Also...would you use the Realtor that is listing the house or get your own?

I would get my own realtor since the seller's realtor works for THEM and not YOU. The other reason why you need your own realtor is that they will know the sales in the area, how long the house has been on the market, the taxes on the house, etc. They will know if the asking price is too high or not.

I don't think it's insulting or rude to offer less than the asking price. It's business. IMO, here is no harm is offering $10 less. If the sellers want to accept the price they will. If not, they will counter-offer maybe up to your $139K. They will certainly not counter-offer DOWN from $139K if that's your first offer.

Good luck!

 

[Crystal824]

I don't think it is rude at all. Get your own realtor, but remember to take care of yourself and your interests as well by doing your own research as your realtor still gets paid a commission on the total value of the house. It is in your realtor's best interest for your to purchase the home at a higher price.

 

[I_believe]

We are doing the same thing right now. We found a house and there were serveral issues with it. The seller was asking 185K for it, we offered 165K and stated that we would do all the necessary repairs for it to pass inspection and to be brought up to code. We basically gave the seller the oprtunity to just walk away from the house. She countered at 179.9k we countered at 170k but she must now do all the repairs. She countered at 175k and said she call a contractor he said the repairs were only 450.00. I am a contractor so I know better. We walked away. The seller has called with a new offer of 172k and she will do all the repairs and give us the other items we asked for, still too high and I don't trust her contractor. We said no thanks and have moved on.

My point is, rude or not you should never pay more than what you feel the house is worth. There will be another house. My guess is, if you are asking this question then you feel that is all it is worth. Give it a try, worse that can happen is they say no thank you.

Good Luck,
Erin

 

[Ericandjenng]

PLEASE, please get your own realtor. A good one will be able to guide you through all the process and will write you a good contract that leaves you outs in case things get complicated. i.e.--home inspection, financing, repairs...

Also a good realtor will check all the comparables and guide you to a good offer and will check with the buyer's agent to see if other offers are being made, why the house has been on the market so long, etc.

But that offer as far as versus price isn't unreasonable. We sold 5+ years ago in a seller's market and still got low-balled. Our agent advised us to at least counter. We did and eventually the net was about 9000 below our asking price but they started out closer to $25K below asking with price, closing costs and allowances.

Also, if they refuse your offer, you can always make a second one if you really like the house.

Good Luck!

 

[Judique]

Get your own agent because they will work on your best interest.

As for asking price, we bought our then listed $201K for $175 by simply offering that low price knowing they would come back with a slight higher price and low and below they accepted the offer. We were prepared to pay $190 for it. Doesn't hurt to offer lower then what you really want to pay. Since the house is empty and has been on the market for 58 days, it might be to your advantage to ask the lower price and you might get it

It doesn't usually hurt to offer lower in the hope of negotiating something inbetween.

But - years ago when I didn't quite understand that every house isn't open for lowball negotiating, I lost a huge deal by underbidding. I had the sellers agent write my contract. She probably wrote 5-6 contracts on that house that afternoon. That is why someone who understands the local market should be asked for advice. In my case the full bid got the house - and 50k in equity.

 

[Helene]

First, buying a home can/should be treated as a business decision. That being said, base what you are doing on facts, not feelings. It really doesn't matter if the seller gets offended, their feeling, their problem. Base your offer on what you believe are the most important factors for you (price, location, resale potential) and manage it like a business decision.

13 years ago, our home was origianlly listed at $120K. It sat for several months. By the time we looked at it, they were down to $100K. DH, with the input of his brother, felt like it needed alot of work (it did) and wanted to offer $60K. To be honest, I was mortified that we would put a bid in so low, but I went with it and told DH he had to make the call to the realtor. To my amazement, they accepted.

Best move we ever made. We've put @ 50K in renovations through the years, but could easily sell it for about $160-$180K now. That is when I learned my lesson on not letting feelings dictate decisions involving finances.

 

[MM27]

The last thing that would be on my mind when buying a house would be whether or not my offer was rude. If the sellers are offended by your offer, they will say no.

When I was buying my house, I had narrowed it down to two. One was a home that a single mother was selling because her and her husband had recently divorced and she couldn't afford it any more.

The other house (the one I ended up buying) was a new construction being sold by the builder.

My real estate agent made a comment about giving a lower offer on the new construction because there wasn't a family involved and the fact that it was a single mother. I told her that the seller wasn't my concern. My concern was how much I have to pay and whether or not they would accept my offer. Call it cruel, but I can't worry about someone else's financial woes. I worry about what I can afford and how I can get the best deal.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Not rude at all.

We offered fifteen thousand less and asked for all closing costs (the home was listed at a little bit higher than the one you're looking at). They countered with ten thousand less, plus all closing costs. We accepted!

Oh, and we had a buyer's agent, but he happened to be the listing agent for the house, too! He could not advise either of us on the offers, because of it. Afterwards, he told us he would have said we offered too little and would have told the sellers not to go that low.

 

[smokeyblue]

I'm going through the process of buying a home right now. I'm actually going to go inspect the repairs I requested after the inspection this afternoon.

I used the sellers agent. Although it turned out so incredibly well, I would never do it again. While waiting for the seller to accept my offer I was really wishing I had my own agent to do the talking.

That is not too low of an offer. I ended up getting my house for $16K under asking. It is a negotiation. It really sucks waiting for the seller to come back and it really makes you sick when they reject or counter an offer, but there is always more room for negotiation. I was just kind of had the attitude if I get it I get it, if I don't I don't. I didn't get too emotionally invested so I wouldn't get disappointed if it didn't go my way.

 

[DCbride]

Not rude at all and you don't know their situation. When I bought my house it listed as $250,000. I offered $225,000 and got it for $230,000. The couple was getting a divorce, she wanted out he wanted to continue living in the house with her paying half his rent each month. She was thrilled to get an offer and probably would have taken anything to get her name off the house.

 

[tlbwriter]

I don't understand the idea that an offer can be rude.

Neither do I. People always talk about an offer being rude, or worry about a seller being offended, and I don't get it. Unless your offer says "I will pay you $144 for this very ugly and poorly decorated house of yours, and you better accept it because believe me, no one else will want it, not even the We Buy Ugly Houses guy," how could an offer to buy something you're trying to sell be rude or offensive?

 

[Bren's Mom]

There's nothing rude about a business transaction. And that's what it is, business.

What you should be thinking about when deciding an asking price is what the fair market value of the home is, first and foremost. And then, can you afford THAT?

If a home is listed for $150,000 but the comps in the area say the FMV is $120,000 and you offer $20k under asking that's NOT rude, it's incredibly generous and, in fact, not a good deal for you at all.

What a homes list price is means NOTHING (or should mean nothing) to YOU. If you want to pay $150k for a home, and see one listed at $200k but the COMPS for that home are $150k, make an offer! Your realtor (and, yes, I totally agree that you should have your OWN, won't cost you a dime) if they're worth anything will be able to make the argument to the sellers that $150k is what it's worth. If they refuse, or are 'offended'...oh well. You still shouldn't pay more because this is a business transaction and would be a BAD investment for YOU.

 

[Shleedogg]

Neither do I. People always talk about an offer being rude, or worry about a seller being offended, and I don't get it. Unless your offer says "I will pay you $144 for this very ugly and poorly decorated house of yours, and you better accept it because believe me, no one else will want it, not even the We Buy Ugly Houses guy," how could an offer to buy something you're trying to sell be rude or offensive?

I remember my real estate agent telling us that we don't want to go too low for risk of offending the seller. She said if he was offended, that was it, we lost the house. She was a new and her mom worked with me (we got suckered into using her - she was terrible). Maybe there's some truth to this? It seems like a tactic to get a higher commission to me. She didn't like that we kept wanting to look at fixers in the 60s-90s. We were approved to 120, so she kept pushing those houses on us.

To OP, I don't think that's an unreasonable offer at all. It's not like you're coming in $50k+ below asking. What is the house assessed for? I definitely wouldn't go much below assessment.

 

[bethy]

I don't understand the idea that an offer can be rude.

You put an offer in for what the house is worth to you. The seller can take it or leave it. I've both bought and sold houses. It's a business deal.

As a seller, if I get a low offer, I get to choose whether or not I think it is a deal I want to make. That is better than not being given the opportunity to consider it.

As a buyer, I always offer what I feel the home is worth. This may or may not line up with what the seller or the market thinks. That's fine with me. I'm not going to overpay for my home.

I agree with this. The worth of a home is ultimately determined by what buyers are willing to pay for it. For example, what if the same house were listed at $500k? Would that mean it would be rude to only offer $480k? When it's really only worth maybe $120k?

 

[tjs198]

Lets say a house is listed for 144,000 is it rude to offer 134,000? I think 134 seems rude, but, hubby doesn't...I would offer 139...need advice on this please. Also...would you use the Realtor that is listing the house or get your own?

I'd offer less than 134 - you are looking for a deal, not a friendship.

With only 1 realtor, they wouldn't have to split the commission which is usually 6% - so you could use that as a bargaining chip also.

 

[tjs198]

I'm going through the process of buying a home right now. I'm actually going to go inspect the repairs I requested after the inspection this afternoon.

I used the sellers agent. Although it turned out so incredibly well, I would never do it again. While waiting for the seller to accept my offer I was really wishing I had my own agent to do the talking.

That is not too low of an offer. I ended up getting my house for $16K under asking. It is a negotiation. It really sucks waiting for the seller to come back and it really makes you sick when they reject or counter an offer, but there is always more room for negotiation. I was just kind of had the attitude if I get it I get it, if I don't I don't. I didn't get too emotionally invested so I wouldn't get disappointed if it didn't go my way.

Exactly - it's a house, there's one on every corner - don't get emotionally attached!

 

[QVCshopper]

My area must be different. Twice now we've been interested in houses that have sold within days of listing. We put an offer in on the first house, and the sellers agent said they were only looking at bids $10k over the asking price, and we couldn't do an inspection. We walked.

The second house was gorgeous, really the nicest house I have ever been in, but at over half a mill, we decided it was just too much for us and didn't bid. Our agent said we'd have to bid almost asking to even get it. So, we continue to look.

We are trying to get into one of the two better school districts in our area, so maybe that's why? The schools really make the houses so much more money around here. For now, we're staying put, but we're going to start making some improvements to our house in case we decide to move. If now, we still should make the improvements.

 

[MaryKLady]

I think having a buyer's agent is always a smart move. The agent listing the house is going to look out for the best interest of their seller. With a buyer's agent, you know you have someone who will have YOUR best interest in mind when negotiating.

I agree completely. Also, an offer is an offer. Remember in some places people aren't getting any offers at all.