So my wife and I made an offer on a house. The seller was asking for about 20k more than other comparable houses in the area, so we made an offer 15k less than asking price, thinking it was fairly reasonable.
The seller counters at 10k above our offer and offers to throw in the fridge (which we don't want).
So...we counter at 5k above our original offer (with the option to take the selling price she asked for with the seller paying 5k of our closing costs and tax pre-pays - same bottom line for her, less cash up front for us), and we think that the seller will play ball with us.
Nope. Her counter offer today was at the same sale price in yesterday's counter offer, minus the fridge. Basically she wants the same amount of money but is saying "well, if you're not interested in the fridge, then that's fine."
I guess she's convinced her house is worth more than other houses with comparable square footage and lot size that are running for 15k less.
I guess we'll just wait a few weeks and see if the house stays on the market. Maybe she'll be more flexible then, if the house doesn't sell.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
You have the power. What part of the country are you in?
What I'm looking forward to is coming close to closing the deal and then at the last minute demanding that the special contract provisions protecting the realtors be modified.
Basically, "I'm not buying this house unless you agree to allow our realtors to be sued hardcore, with attorney fees for anything that goes wrong". What a conflict of interest! Good times.
Posts: 158 | Registered: Jan 2008
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We like the floorplan, the location, etc. It's smaller than other houses in that pricerange, which is why we are willing to walk away and keep looking.
We aren't in a rush to find a house, but that was the one we liked the best so far.
The seller seems to have a greater-than-typical emotional attachment to the house. The original listing she made back in September was closer to 40k above the comp houses.
Oregon's housing market isn't quite as slow as the rest of the nation, so it's quite possible that someone will bite at her price. Not us, though.
And if no one bites and we haven't found something better, then maybe she'll budge. If we find something better at a comparable price, all the better for us.
Still...there's always the wish to get the process over with, as it were. It would be nice to finally move out of apartments and have our own place. It makes it hard to keep a cool head and take our time.
We almost walked away from a car deal over $100--the salesman said, "It's only $100," and my husband said, "Yes, but it's my $100. I can guarantee that it means more to me than it does to you."
We got the price we wanted.
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote: I guess she's convinced her house is worth more than other houses with comparable square footage and lot size that are running for 15k less.
It's possible that, not too long ago, it was -- and now she's hanging on a contingency or something that requires her to pull out at least that extra 15K.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Lots of people seem to be really unwilling to lower prices after a bubble bursts. I ran into the same thing all the time in San Francisco apartment hunting after the tech bubble burst.
Apartment owners were used to getting $3K a month for studios, and when nobody could afford that any more, they still wanted it. Sometimes an empty apartment would stay on the market for 6-8 months, the price going down $100 every couple weeks until it finally got down to a reasonable price.
The same seems to be happening with the housing market in the Bay Area. Nobody is willing to pay $6 million for a 1 bedroom in Oakland, but they were 2 years ago, and nobody wants to sell for less.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Well, the thing about a house is that, if you don't sell it at the price you want, you can still live in it. So it makes some sense not to lower a house price too rapidly.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Apparently the seller's husband passed away and that has something to do with why she is selling it. That may explain more of the emotional connection.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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