Frustration/Venting

[Gonz]

So our family is living in a crappy rental house, since we have two other houses on the market right now that we need to sell before we can afford to buy something nice. However, after living in a smaller house for a while, we've realized that we're not completely at each other's throats and maybe something smaller and less expensive might work. So we find a nice little house that just came on the market, it would work fine for us and has charm and character, so we put in an offer, a damn good offer, 98% of their asking price with no strings attached, and they can even live there a month after we close.

And these morons say no, and that they just put it on the market and they want their full asking price!

What the hell is wrong with some people?! Did they happen not to watch TV or read a newspaper anytime in the last two years and realize that the housing market sucks and they'd better take what they can get?

Okay, my venting is over. If they won't take our offer as is then we're moving on and we'll keep our eyes open for something else. We're in no rush or immediate need to find something. And beyond that, on principle I won't negotiate with these people if they are so pompous that they think their house is going to be the exception to an otherwise poor housing market.

 

[tone-ny]

Don't be surprised if they come back to you in afew months time and try to take your offer. Then you can go lower. I don't understand people a 98% of their asking price is as good as it gets in this market, go figure?

 

[fivebyfifty]

Wait one month offer 95% ill bet they take it.

 

[rbbrock]

This is very likely an example of them having a poor realtor. Their agent must not want his commission very badly, if he can't convince them that if the first offer is a good one, you take it, even though it's "only" the first offer.

 

[Rod]

It's called GREED.

I went through the same thing last summer. Offered somone $20k below asking, and they said no. So I said, how about full asking, and you pay closing costs. They said no. They wanted me to pay full asking price plus THEIR closing costs. People are just greedy more than ever. I'm glad I didn't buy that house, it most likely lost around $200k in value with how the market is.

 

[billbaker3]

They could owe more then what the house is worth also. I know a lot of people that this is the case. Houses fell hard here in Michigan.

 

[KeithS]

The last time I sold my house I was tempeted to be stubborn like that. I finally came to the realization that I had a signed contract and a sold house. If I quibbled over a couple thousand dollars the buyer could be gone. I made up the difference on the house we bought. This seller sounds like a fool with the way the housing market is.

 

[rob300c]

This is very likely an example of them having a poor realtor. Their agent must not want his commission very badly, if he can't convince them that if the first offer is a good one, you take it, even though it's "only" the first offer.

As a realtor I find this highly unlikely.
It could be but I doubt it.
Working straight commision I assure you the realtor wants his end!

I feel sorry for the realtor, it sucks when you get hard headed clients who will only take a certain number.
We can only sell the house for what the market will allow.

The house will probably not sell for a loooong time.
If you are still interested in the property low ball them next winter (maybe just to screw with them!)!

-Rob

 

[mmburtch]

They could owe more then what the house is worth also. I know a lot of people that this is the case. Houses fell hard here in Michigan.

This would be my guess as well. They either have negitive equity, or just enough equity to pay the commissions. Wait a couple of months and you can pick it up as a forclosure.

 

[LilBastage]

To refuse an offer over a 2% difference is absolutely stupid. I'm not sure what the market is like where you are, Andy, but up here people would be falling all over themselves to get an offer like that on any house over $250,000. It seems the houses selling for less than that are still doing OK, but anything over that magic number sits and sits on the market.

 

[Gonz]

According to their realtor the reason they're not taking our offer is because they feel the house just came on the market, there's other showings scheduled, and they'll get a better offer soon. I don't think it has anything to do with being upside down with what they owe, like Rod said it's simply greed and stupidity. I guess they're selling because they've bought some land and are going to be building a house soon, as soon as they get this one sold.

 

[rramstad]

I dunno. Here in Seattle, which is a stronger market than most of the country, I see a lot of weird stuff. There's a house on my block which just sold at asking price at the first open house. There's another around the corner that is IMHO much nicer that has been on the market for a while. Clearly either A) the market is saying that the first house is somehow more desirable at that price or B) there's an idiot willing to pay full price for just about anything.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's all relative. I suspect the asking price of the house on our block was actually low relative to true value, and that's why it sold so fast, and at asking price.

At the end of the day, you need to be happy with what you paid. It cuts both ways. If you like the house and think it's worth 98% of asking price, not to be cheeky, but it's probably worth 100% of asking price too.

That said, if you think you'll see other houses like this one on the market, and you can wait until October or November i.e. when the weather gets bad, and everyone is preoccupied with the holidays, you'll get a screaming deal then... best real estate deal I ever made closed on Dec 30th...

Best of luck finding a property you like at a price you think is fair (or even better!)

 

[muddstick]

Wow. I am trying to sell my house right now and would jump all over 98% of the asking price. It is not that common to get full asking price in a good market, much less right now!

 

[Gonz]

As I was reading this my realtor just called. One thing that's been real frustrating about this is that their realtor will come to us (via our realtor) and say, "they'll take your original offer, but you'll have to close 15 days earlier and let them stay until the end of May" or some other such minor change, and we'll say, "yeah, that's no big deal". Then I'll get a call later that says the realtor spoke with their clients, and they would like to counter with something completely different, including a higher price and some other BS. What is so hard to understand about, "This is my offer, take it or leave it"?

I'm a handyman by nature and hobby, there's plenty of houses out there that have the same basic elements (number of bedrooms, baths, sq footage) but need a little work, and are priced $50-75k less than this one. Maybe we'll just find something like that instead. Or maybe we'll keep renting this place until one of ours sells, then we can afford to buy something much nicer that will last us longer.

 

[rramstad]

I'm a handyman by nature and hobby, there's plenty of houses out there that have the same basic elements (number of bedrooms, baths, sq footage) but need a little work, and are priced $50-75k less than this one. Maybe we'll just find something like that instead. Or maybe we'll keep renting this place until one of ours sells, then we can afford to buy something much nicer that will last us longer.

I think this is EXACTLY the right attitude.

The danger people get into is when they start believing that a particular property is the only one that will work for them.

The truth is that most of the details of a property are just that, details, and malleable.

In retrospect, the #1 thing I like about my current house is something I didn't consider at all in the purchasing decision, and is something I absolutely could not change if I wanted to.

My house is on a dead end street, and it's great. Location, location, location.

The #2 thing, and something we thought long and hard about, is that it's big enough. We wanted to buy a small house that didn't need much work, but couldn't find anything that we really liked. The house we bought, that we've been in for 10 years now, is a lot bigger than we initially thought we wanted, and needed a LOT of work. The process has been drawn out, financially painful, and completely rewarding. It's really and truly our house, and in the condition it's in now, we couldn't afford to buy it if it was on the market...

Literally this was a house that we had seen three times and rejected as many times over a period of six plus weeks... we just didn't like the house, pure and simple, but eventually the end of the year and our desire to get into something pushed us over the edge, that and driving a hard bargain over all the repairs that the house needed.

So, there's my recent house story. Pretty odd, I think, but I think there's a lot of truth in the simple fact that many houses will serve your needs, and many houses may not serve your needs right now but could be made to. Getting too excited about one property is just a recipe for disappointment, IMHO.

 

[The Master]

The guy who doesn't take 98% of asking price is a total moron. The realtor who didn't make him take it is obviously not a good one. If I were the realtor, I would have told the seller that he either takes your offer or he finds another realtor. I bet this guy ends up taking 75 grand less on his house a year and a half from now.

When I was looking for houses back in April of 03 I had a really tough time finding what I needed. I was looking at gated communities which fell under a certain school district. I have 4 kids and I wanted them to go to a certain elementary, middle and high schoo( the best schools in the entire district) . There was only 3 gated communities which had these schools and I needed a 6 bedroom home. I also wanted a huge lanai ( at least 2000 sq ft ) so that was also a tough find.

I found the house I loved and the people selling would only come off the asking price 5 grand. I took the price and I am very happy I did. 5 years later I still love the house and the gated community where I live.

 

[coolboxers255]

Patience prevails and you'll feel better in the pocketbook!

 

[mrrt]

I'm a handyman by nature and hobby, there's plenty of houses out there that have the same basic elements (number of bedrooms, baths, sq footage) but need a little work, and are priced $50-75k less than this one. Maybe we'll just find something like that instead.

You can easily find something like that. This market is a BUYER's MARKET. I dont think the owner of the house you are looking at is realizing that. The total inventory of homes on the market is greater now than ever. this guy is taking a giant roll of the dice by not moving or even countering on the price. I really think he is the one that will loose in the deal.

We recently (last week) sold our home. sandy and I had it on the market for 8 months. We didnt drop our price, but I constantly was watching sales in the area to see if we needed to drop/adjust price to reflect the market. We also weren't getting offers anywhere near our asking, but we always countered. I bet we had well over a hundred showings. I mean we had one couple come in $50K less than ask. thats just crazy. We dont have a big house so that was major for us. In the end we got close to our ask, but that was a week before we were going to drop 15K off the price for market adjustment. Pure luck we got the price we did.

Now that we are on the other side looking...I am totally amazed at people also. We decided we are going to downsize and do a condo here on the shorline and at some point one down south. I cannot believe some people and what they are trying to sell. a couple quick stories for ya:

1. Sandy finds and awesome condo..great complex..small complex..some lawn and not all driveway. low condo fees..been on the market for 8 months. We check it out..nice place. Unit has obviously settled over the years as there is a slight dip in one section of the floor. We also notice some loose tile near the slider. Obviously someone left the slider open during a rain and it got wet.. We put in an offer 10k less than ask. the guy basically tells us there are NO problems, NO dip, and NO loose tiles and we are tryign to get this place for a steal and rip him off. unbelievable...so we walk

2. so we find another ...small complex...blah blah blah...everything we're looking for...we are checking it our..its townhouse type so it has 1/2 bath on main floor...I open the bathroom door and am greeted with the overwhelming smell of urine..arhhhhhhh.. so we walk out of there..
**Hey heres a clues for home sellers..If you bathroom smells like piss your not going to sell very fast dumbass...

3. last one for ya...go into this one...smelled like smoke so bad it was on everything. Obvious heavy smoker who doesnt know how to open windows or know what an air freshener is...
**Hey heres another clue..If you house smells like an old ashtray your not selling any time soon either.


bottomline Gonz...theres a ton of stuff out there and if something you like is not coming together for you, then just walk. The inventory is bigger than every and you WILL find one that works for you. People really do want to sell and there are good sellers out there..hang in there

art

 

[slowhand]

It cuts both ways. If you like the house and think it's worth 98% of asking price, not to be cheeky, but it's probably worth 100% of asking price too.

I think it cuts both ways also. How did you come up with your 98% offer? Did you have the house appraised and decided that was its value? Or are you just trying to 'win'? Maybe the owner did a market analysis and priced his house exactly at the right price and not allowing for any movement.

I'm all for negotiating and trying to get the best deal. But why get frustrated or mad at someone because they wont budge lower? He probably is thinking the same things about you.

If you really like the house do you think you'll care in ten years that you paid $4k or $5k more? I doubt it.

 

[Rebel Herfer]

It's called GREED.

I went through the same thing last summer. Offered somone $20k below asking, and they said no. So I said, how about full asking, and you pay closing costs. They said no. They wanted me to pay full asking price plus THEIR closing costs. People are just greedy more than ever. I'm glad I didn't buy that house, it most likely lost around $200k in value with how the market is.

I couldn't agree more. I'm a Mortgage Banker and this greed issue is making me consider getting out. Not that my industry is blameless; we've allowed ads that feature"pick-a-payment" and no $ down this and extra money that, as well as giving loans to people who have NO business owning a home.
I still get people that call me looking for 100% loans with no Mortgage Insurance or escrows AND no money down or out of pocket! It makes my blood pressure skyrocket! Thank God for the lovely leaf we share at the end of the day. It is a buyers market but some sellers think they are the cat's meow.
In this current example you have two issues:
First you may have a breach of contract action with the seller's agent on the ok to original offer then changing it.
Secondly, with the 98% offer, each agent could agree to reduce their commission to 2% instead of 3% and the deal could move forward. FYI - agents find the house & make 6%; I have the $ and I rarely make more than 1%! AND I have to do all kinds of paperwork and structuring, market analysis....
PM me with any questions or some more suggestions.
If anybody would like a loan or refi, or advice, I am a direct lender with a bank, gimmie a PM.