OT: House buying...

[welovepoly]

Hello. I have been lurking for so long, but it is kind of funny that my first post has NOTHING to do w/ Disney.

Anyways, DH and I are about to purchase our first house! We actually love one particular one and are thinking about making a bid. Anyone wanna maybe share their experiences about purchasing a house...We have a realtor, but I don't know I just keep hearing that you should bid low but he doesn't seem to want to, so I am just making sure that he is out for our best interest...not just his......

The house is 199k, it's been on the market for 3-4 months, and actually he just reduced it 10k. We can get 6% seller's assist because it is a VA loan. Also in case it matters we are in a suburb of Philadelphia (about 45 mins outside the city)

Any thoughts what we should start at bidding? Some one told me to go as low as 20% of asking in the understanding that you may make it probably back up to 10%....then someone told me that you shouldn't bid too low cause then they may not even want to work with you. I also understand that that seller's assist should be apart of the bid....so it we offer lets say 185K that includes the seller's assist. (I hope that makes sense)

Seriously my family would appreciate ANY advise ANYONE can give...

Thanks so much for reading this!

 

[DisneyBlonde]

Welcome!

Is your realtor also representing the house?

If the house has been on the market for longer than a few months, and there aren't any other offers on it, I'm not sure why he wouldn't encourage you to place an offer you're comfortable with as an opening point to negotiate. When we were selling my DHs house a few years ago, the market is so bad, we would have considered any offer.

Good luck with the house!

 

[Liberty Belle]

We bid lower than our realtor wanted us to, too. They counter offered with still a good price and we accepted. Our realtor was surprised. He was also representing them, though, so he couldn't advise them to come in higher. Our gain!

Oops, forgot numbers. We offered about 10% off their asking price and asked them to pay ALL closing costs. They came back with about 8% off asking price and agreed to pay all closing costs.

What area do you live in?

 

[Pakey]

It's hard to answer this question without knowing how this particular house is priced compared to the other comps in your area or whether this property is bank owned, short sale, a seller trying to unload before it gets to point of a short sale, etc.

Even in this terrible market and we live in an area with one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, we recently closed on a rental property with a price 10% ABOVE asking price. And it was still a great deal but I knew alot about the comps and the forecasts for the area.

You should not rely on your realtor to educate you on the market in your area. The realtor, in the end, is working to get a commission and the more the house closes for, the more money the realtor will get. The realtor is looking out for your interests (or should be) but they are looking out for their own too. If you go in with a low bid, the realtor might be thinking about the amount of time and paperwork that will have to be done through the negotiation process. You have to know what the market is, the trends for the area in which you are looking, and you also have to set a limit on how much you are willing to pay. Ask to see comps for that area; your realtor should be willing to provide them to you. Do not get emotionally attached to any property until the keys are in your hand as emotions can get you to pay more for the property than it's worth.

Good luck. The first house is so exciting.

 

[teacups]

Your offer of 185 seems fine if the house is priced right in the first place. Is it comparably price to others in the area of similar quality etc?
You MUST research this.

Good luck!

 

[welovepoly]

Thanks for all the great responses.

It is in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Our realtor is not representing the house we are looking at. And our realtor is looking at comps in the area.

See that's really scary to me offering 180k + Closing cost (10% of the asking price) According to zillow.com (I know not really reliable...but it's a starting point) all the houses w/ the same amount of sq ft are going for that 195k+ some are even 200k

I think I am just really scared that if we give a low offer....then he/she doesn't even counter...then what we are just outta luck?

 

[december]

I thought you could only get up to 6% in seller concessions? That may just be the law here, but that is what I was told when we bought a house a few years ago. That also seems to be the number they use on HGTV shows alot. Have you talked to the realtor about wanting 10% for the closing?

 

[DisneyBlonde]

I think I am just really scared that if we give a low offer....then he/she doesn't even counter...then what we are just outta luck?

No, you can always make another offer. In the current market a seller is always open to another offer. In my opinion, the only time you really have to think about going too low is if there is another offer (and be aware that sometimes you are told there is another interested buyer when there isn't...)

Good luck!

 

[ksjayhawks]

Zillow is a good website for getting an idea about prices, but I wouldn't rely on it totally. In our neighborhood there are several houses that are listed $50,000 below similar ones. Reason? The others have sold for that price, the lower ones have the original owner.

Make a bid that you are comfortable with, but will not be insulting to the owner. Coming in with a bid of $160,000 would probably end up with them not wanting to deal with you at all (unless the house is in terrible shape and needs a ton of work done to it). A bid of $175,000 plus $XX in closing costs would probably get the negotiating started.

Good luck.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Ah, my favorite topic. We are on house #4 and we bought this model home in Sept 25th 2008.

How old is the house?

What repairs does it need?

For "top dollar", I expect a newish roof and newish flooring and I mean recent. The AC, furnace, water heater, and appliances like the dishwasher and stove cannot be outdated.

For example a 20yr roof is coming off of their asking price.

Flooring can be a huge expense on a house. So do not look over that.

I know you want the house so if your are comfortable that the house is in good shape then you can feel good about your offer.

 

[welovepoly]

Ah, my favorite topic. We are on house #4 and we bought this model home in Sept 25th 2008.

How old is the house?

What repairs does it need?

For "top dollar", I expect a newish roof and newish flooring and I mean recent. The AC, furnace, water heater, and appliances like the dishwasher and stove cannot be outdated.

For example a 20yr roof is coming off of their asking price.

Flooring can be a huge expense on a house. So do not look over that.

I know you want the house so if your are comfortable that the house is in good shape then you can feel good about your offer.

W/o having an inspection the house looks good...The flooring is good...the roof looks good...Only thing is probably a cracked mirror sliding closet door...there is no railing on the staircase (needs one to pass inspection, from what I am told)....one interior door is busted....that's it really about it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

W/o having an inspection the house looks good...The flooring is good...the roof looks good...Only thing is probably a cracked mirror sliding closet door...there is no railing on the staircase (needs one to pass inspection, from what I am told)....one interior door is busted....that's it really about it.

How old are they? When was the flooring installed, the roof, furnance, etc...