Very LONG update on the house we may buy. Page 2

[dianeschlicht]

In our area, a house in a desirable market would not have many offers accepted that far below the asking price. $10,000 below would be about the lowest you would go around here, but then, a house of that size would cost about twice that in this market too.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My thought is find out what other houses are selling for in the near vicinity or how much houses close to you have sold for in the past. That is usually your indicator of what people are willingly to pay in your neighborhood. Even though you trust your realtor it is better to know first hand the neighborhood pricing situation.
Also have roof inspections and other inspections completed?? I can't see making solid offers unless you know that there isn't any hidden major costs that could drive the price of the house down.

Those are my thoughts. Good luck!

 

[dianeschlicht]

If your realtor is doing a good job, he/she should be able to give you those comaprisons for the area. Ours did that, and it was very helpful.

 

[marlasmom]

I don't know Beauty. We had our hosue on the market at $209,900. Someone offered $184,000. We just laughed and when the realtor said they were coming back with a more realistic offer we told them not to bother - we did not want to do business with them. We ended up getting two full price offers on the same day.

I am very angry with our buyers. We picked them over a higher offer because they said they would cooperate with us on closing. We asked for 8/27 because we close on the Florida house on 8//30. They said they wanted to close on 7/23. We said that would cost us almost another week in motels (2 rooms because we are bringing my daughter) extra meals and extra moving costs because our furniture would have to go in and out of storage. Further we would not have their money in time to close in Florida. I took the $ out of my brokerage account (to the distress of my broker) but I am not leaving as much as a roll of toilet paper. I had hired a cleaning service to clean up after the movers but I have cancelled that. I have not watered the lawn or the flowers. This is not like me but I am very bitter that they lied to us.

On the other hand, the mover told us our furniture could be in Florida on the day of closing. I called the seller because we had told them if we could have the utilities switched over, they could stay through the weekend. I asked if our furniture arriving would be an inconvenience and they said not at all. They also offered to come over and show us how to work things. I have ordered a new plant for them in their new house. That's how a closing should work.

 

[Zurg]

Three months no offers means the house isn't getting seen or is priced to high. Assuming they want to sell, getting an offer is good news and they will entertain it.

You are 11% under the asking price. You may get it you may not but it is a good place to start.

One way to make the offer more attrcative, if you can do it, is to make the settlement time shorter. That way they are making fewer payments (if they are making payments) before you buy them out. If they are not making payments then they get the cash to invest sooner, either way money sooner is better than money later.

(Oh my lord it sounds like I have a dergee in finance, time value of money and all that - oh wait I do - what a geek)

The funny thing is if they accept the first offer you come away thinking to bid too much. LOL

 

[luvwinnie]

that would never be accepted...houses are going for MORE than asking still! We did have our first offer accepted on the house we own and love. It was 279,000 and we offered 270. The people liked us though!

 

[allicat]

Have to agree with luvwinnie! Real estate is crazy here in NJ. The houses are selling in days and in many instances, for more than the asking price!Its great if you are selling!
But your area may be different, make the offer and if they refuse, take it from there!

 

[TerriP]

You've gotten some good advice here. Buyer/Seller Agency laws varies by state so be sure to get the correct information for YOUR state from your Realtor. She MUST (and I'm sure she already has)disclose to you who she's working for. If she is not offering full disclosure to you at the front of the deal, she IS NOT a realtor you want to work with.

Ok...now, did she do a Comparative Market Analysis for you? She should be able to pull recently listed/pending sale/sold homes for you in the same area with similar homes (square footage, bedrooms, baths, etc..) and price range for comparison. This should be how you base your decision on price.

Making an offer that is too low is never a good idea. It's not always as simple as "Well, they'll just counter offer". You run the risk of insulting the seller and damaging your credability as a buyer. Additionally, a good realtor will not want to present a low offer either...they depend on their reputation and a reputation for low offers does not endear you to other realtors.

If you trust your realtor and feel confident in her judgment, I say go with the offer. She should know what your market will bear and where you need to start the process to end up with a fair price.

Good luck...buying a new home is stressful but very very exciting!!

 

[Beauty]

WOW!!!!! Well I definatly have tons of information from you all...you are GREAT!!

Okay here is where things stand now,

We TOTALLY TRUST our realtor...like I said she is close to family. She did disclose that she is working for the seller (But I think shes working for us even though we aren't paying her commission) I say that because of how well we know her and her family!

Okay we did make the offer $200,000 plus the seller paying closing etc. Our realtor said we could offer lower if we wanted....which we didn't because $200,000 is what we would like. We have decided that we will go to $212,000 but no further. The market in our area is awful. Misty (our realtor) says its definatly a Buyers market here right now.

Okay....Yes we did get prequalified....we are already approved at 7.25 fixed which is what the interest rate was here yesterday of course it could come down again before we close and we could lock in that rate. I laughed because all we were told to put down in ernest money was $500...goes to show the difference in where you live. Our "potential" closing date is set for August 31st but we will probably not move in until the end of September. Our buying this house is not contengent on selling mom's home or ours. We could have the down payment anytime we want.

We have already talked to an electrician, air conditioner man and foundation person to come in and check once and if our offer is accepted. If any problems are found the seller can 1. Fix them 2. Give us "credit" in the amount it would take to fix the problem 3. We can withdraw the deal. In our contract we specified that a licensed roofer would have to give us a letter stating the shape of the roof. The bank of course has its appraiser come out.

So right now we are simply waiting.....One thing I didn't know is that they don't have to offer a counteroffer. Misty said that our offer would be accepted or declined, if it is declined they will then give a counter offer. I don't know this is all so new to me too.

Oh and they do still live in the house although some things are packed up. The reason they are moving is because he is a manager of our J.C. Penny and is retiring. There is only him and his wife and they don't need this huge house. I don't know whether or not they are leaving Greenville. Okay this was a really long update...LOL!

 

[catsrule]

Long post, but I still read it all.

 

[PamOKW]

Okay this was a really long update

Yeah, but you could feel the excitement coming through! I sure hope everything works out for you on this house. I bet it will!

 

[helenabear]

Well I do wish you all the best with this. I am surprised that they wouldn't come back with a counter offer though. We went through several tense moments with our counter offers and eventually we ironed it all out and both sides were very happy. I hope for the same for you!!!

 

[nativetxn]

If this is the house that you want, I hope you get it sweetie

 

[Serena]

Beauty, good luck, I hope you get it.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Continued good wishes for you, Beth and John.

 

[B3LM]

Isn't it nerve-racking!!! We just bought a home and sold our home last week. We offered $5,000 less than their asking price, but the house wasn't even on the market, yet. We knew they could easily put it on the market and get their asking price.
Fortunately, they accepted all of our terms. (They also saved some commission money because it wasn't on the market, yet.)

I hope it all works out for you! Keep us posted!
Beth