Just curious what you girls think is a reasonable offer on a house...meaning how much below the asking price do you think will open up discussion. Most people I know ended up paying the asking price or more when they bought houses years ago.
This is all such foreign stuff for me and of course I don't want to pay too much in this market.
Any advice would be appreciated.
donegal419
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Re: House Hunting Question...
In this market, you can afford to low ball it. we went about 20% below in June, knowing they would come back. seller agreed on about 10% below which was a STEAL for the neighborhood! We just wanted to get as low as we could.
KSquared
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Ok thanks so much- that's about what I figured. It's crazy because no one is used to this kind of market, my grandfather said to offer $100,000 - somehow I don't think we'd be taken seriously if we did that, haha.
sparkle
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Re: House Hunting Question...
For us, we started $60,000 below the asking price. I think that was about 11% lower than the asking price. After going back and forth, we ended up getting the house for $30,000 below the asking price. We met exactly in the middle. I'm sure what's 'appropriate' really varies though (especially depending on the original asking price). But hopefully from the responses to your post, you will at least have a ballpark idea of what you want to offer! Good luck!
ETA - this was in June of 2008 :)
Mici n KC
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We made our offer in February so it's hard to say now, but it was $55,000 less than the asking price. With our last offer it was $26,000 less than the asking price. The house price had dropped $25,000 from it's original listing price when we made the offer.
Espo22
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Definitely start off with a lower offer, they'll just come back with a counter offer. But will also depend on certain things, how long has it been on the market? if it was put on the market just recently then they might want to see if they would get higher offers. Even in todays market you have some sellers like this. DH's close friend and his wife put an offer on a house that honestly wasn't that much lower than asking price and their offer was turned down, they had just put the house up for sale and wanted that exact amount. They were a**holes about it too and didnt even want to counter offer. They had someone else who was interested and they decided to go with the other couple. But in todays market its also a harder process and the other couple didnt get approved for the mortgage. Now the sellers constantly call dh's friend to tell them they are willing to sell to them but they don't want it anymore.
If its been on longer, then the longer its been on the market the more open they are to negotiations. Are you using a real estate agent? if so ask them any info they might know about the couple. One important thing is how eager they are to move. There are some that put a house on the market and are not in a rush to move and have the luxury of waiting. Others need to sell ASAP and are very motivated. WHen I bought my place a few years ago that was the situation, the real estate agent told us this and so we knew we definitely were able to negotiate. The couple bought a place in florida before even selling this place and they were hoping it would sell sooner but took longer than they expected. They even moved their kids to Florida with one grandparent while they were still here and already moved just about everything and just had a bed and a tv in the apartment and needed to get out as soon as they can so we were able to get it for a great price. So definitely ask the real estate agent if they are very motivated sellers Sometimes it even says this in the listing.
Good luck
jennarose023
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we low balled the sellers when we made the offer on our house which we knew wouldn't get accepted, but gave us a great starting point for negotiating! We bid about $35k under the list price
futuremrsfab
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You can always go higher- but once you put a price out there you cant go lower- if you want to fm me the neighborhood, I can check and see what the average below asking price is for that neighborhood-- good luck!
znycgirl
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We have an accepted offer & are going into closing...hopefully this week.
Our house is in a fantastic neighborhood & in fantastic condition (but old). It had come down in price by 25% from the Spring, when it was first listed.
We offered 13% less than asking. They thought this was an outrage, but liked us (personally).
They settled for 9-10% less.
A real estate agent is priceless. If you are really serious: go with one. There is a LOT more to the process: finding out about oil tank abandonment, asbestos, sexual predators, ect. that the agent will guide you & help you with...esp if you are unfamiliar with the area.
Ours also essentially helped the bargaining with their real estate agent.
Good luck.
TommysWife08
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our house was posted at $370,000... we offered 350 and settled at 360,000
yelley77
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We found an approved short sale that was listed for $349 (it was appraised at $510 not long ago) and we offered $300 and the came back with $329 and we settled at $322... we are still in the process, so hopefully it will be ours.
This is the time time buy!!!
lizzie217
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Re: House Hunting Question...
Buyers market....here is something imprtant to consider..how badly does the current owner need to move? Try to find out if they already bought something else and are paying two mortages or are they about to foreclose etc..obv. these people will be more inclinded to sell at a lower bid.
Sometimes people put their homes on the market 'to see' what they can get (although prob not so much in this market, in this case they probaly wouldnt consider a low ball.
Also Mlsli.com now has a link of 'recently sold' houses (or you can contact a broker) be aware of what houses sold for last month, week npot 5,6,7 months ago,,,this is a different market and sellers are going to have to lower prices. HTH Feel free to FM me with any questions I worked in real estate throughout summers while in college & masters (all apsects) and might be able to help
futuremrsfab
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Posted by yelley77
We found an approved short sale that was listed for $349 (it was appraised at $510 not long ago) and we offered $300 and the came back with $329 and we settled at $322... we are still in the process, so hopefully it will be ours.
This is the time time buy!!!
Congrats Yelley!
teenigrrl
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Posted by yelley77
We found an approved short sale that was listed for $349 (it was appraised at $510 not long ago) and we offered $300 and the came back with $329 and we settled at $322... we are still in the process, so hopefully it will be ours.
This is the time time buy!!!
congrats!!! good luck!!!
Mrs. V 2008
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In this market you can definatley low ball it! Our first offer was 30k below the asking price!!!!! We ended up settling at 20K below the asking price!!
yelley77
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Thanks girls! I have everything crossed that i possibly can!
CD516
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I'm just going to play devils advocate becuase im in the business. Alot of my buyers are losing great homes because of too low offers. Some sellers are priced to sell and may recieve several offers. So, although its a buyers market, make sure you do your research. If its new to the market, and priced right, you might want to offer what you think the home is worth rather than automatically go much lower. JMO
znycgirl
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Posted by CD516
I'm just going to play devils advocate becuase im in the business. Alot of my buyers are losing great homes because of too low offers. Some sellers are priced to sell and may recieve several offers. So, although its a buyers market, make sure you do your research. If its new to the market, and priced right, you might want to offer what you think the home is worth rather than automatically go much lower. JMO
True: our seller didn't even counter some people who gave offers that were too low. If you aren't in love with a house...you may want to gamble....but if you are...
lizzie217
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Posted by CD516
I'm just going to play devils advocate becuase im in the business. Alot of my buyers are losing great homes because of too low offers. Some sellers are priced to sell and may recieve several offers. So, although its a buyers market, make sure you do your research. If its new to the market, and priced right, you might want to offer what you think the home is worth rather than automatically go much lower. JMO
Great point...I think it is a good idea to work with a broker who knows the area you are looking to buy very well and can provide comparable very recent sales so that you can gauge what a good price is
