Ok, our house is on the market not out of necessity but just because we'd like to move to a different house/neighborhood.
I just got a call from our realtor that was interesting. She said a buyer's realtor contacted her and before her clients even want to look at our house, they want to know if we'd take a cash offer of $50,000 less than our asking price. We've only been in the house 3 years -- going down $50k would mean we would be selling for about $20k less than what we paid for it. This may be a good deal for someone who needs to sell but we DON'T NEED to sell. I'm a bit dazed at the "offer" even before they see the place.
After the initial shock, I got my brain cells back into alignment and started looking at the situation. The house that we want is still on the market. So, if we go ahead and sell our current home, even at a loss, we could move forward on the "dream" home. That is really all I can figure as the upside to going so low on the sale of our house. With our current home off our backs, we could potentially strike a great deal on the other end in the purchase of the new home -- the owners of that home moved out of state a few years ago and I'm sure they are extremely motivated on selling the house as it is vacant and just sitting there...year after year... so they may take a low offer. Hmmm ... the thinking continues....
got a lowball offer -- almost
October 21st, 2009 at 06:42 pm
October 21st, 2009 at 06:45 pm 1256150707
October 21st, 2009 at 07:31 pm 1256153480
We had our house on the market in 2006 - no desparation - just a rare opportunity to buy a bigger lot for a bargain.
We priced our house on the low side for a quick sell, but we got a LOT of super lowball offers. Like $100k below market. I imagine if people were testing the "desparate waters" so close to the peak, that they must be really testing them these days. The bottom hadn't quite fallen out at that time - we just recognized some great bargains on bigger homes - where the market was starting to falter. The whole contingency thing just became impossible so we gave up (desparate sellers weren't going to wait for us to sell our home).
It will definitely be harder for you to get a serious offer. & you will get worse offers. It's a strange market. Good Luck!
October 21st, 2009 at 07:34 pm 1256153677
October 21st, 2009 at 07:46 pm 1256154373
October 21st, 2009 at 07:49 pm 1256154568
October 21st, 2009 at 09:04 pm 1256159090
October 21st, 2009 at 09:20 pm 1256160036
October 21st, 2009 at 11:25 pm 1256167539
Be sure to place a contingency of "subject to purchase price acceptance" for your new home so you become "homeless".
God bless and best of luck.
October 22nd, 2009 at 03:25 am 1256181924
I did it because I saw places almost as good that were priced close to what I offered. (But they only got priced that low after 2 years on the market, that seller was not there yet).
So it was listed at 495K, we offered 440K, (we thought it was worth 450-460K, and we were prepared to take that as a counter) They countered at 490K! We decided it was waste of time and the seller was not realistic.
That was like a month and a half ago. I can see they dropped the asking price to 469K now.
But I had time to come to my senses and overcome the emotional aspect of "nice, pleasant apartment" with the understanding that this co-op has a very restrictive policy and is not flexible enough for our long-term needs.
So that seller may not need to sell right away, but with our very low 500K budget we NEED to find someone who does need to sell right away. Otherwise we can't afford anything livable. So we have to continue to look for a good deal, or we won't buy at all.
You don't have to take 50K less, but I would suggest to counter to them with what you really expect to get for the place. They can take it or not.
Places that are priced well go. Even now. Those who need to sell and list apartments at a good price... they just get my hopes up. By the time I get to see it, it is "in contract". In like a week! It is frustrating.
So if your apartment is priced well, I think it will sell. But the indicator of the price is what comparable apartments were just sold for, not what you paid for it few years ago.