home selling in Canton GA (Gray: credit, loans, real estate)

[sunny505]

have a house for sale and hear that people are submitting these really low offers. just got one and they offered us basically what we paid for the house, plus the realtor fees. we have put alot of $ into improvements. our realtor tells us that this is the recent trend, to submit really low offers. would never even think of offering a homeowner so low as they did. we don't even what to respond because i don't think they will come up, but realtor thinks we should.
they even want us to pay for their inspection and things that are not of the norm and have nothing to do with house, but the yard - which we have just recently put over $2000 into prof landscaping. We had an offer back in Nov, but the buyers were not qualified and their first bid was well over this recent offer.

don't think the current buyers are serious. plus they have 3 houses on their list and guess they are putting out these low bids to to several to see if they get a bite.

has anyone else experience this or know of anyone else who has similiar?

thanks in advance.

[BobKovacs]

What you paid for the house and the cost of the improvements you put in are completely irrelavent- all that matters is what today's market value is. We bought our house in Canton last summer, and we couldn't sell it today for what we paid for it- the market has slipped. Of course, we're not trying to sell it anytime even remotely soon, so I'm not worried about that.

Regarding the "low offer", it's only "low" if you've got your house priced too "high"- the buyers are probably offering slightly below market value, and of course they're going to look for concessions like paying for inspections, etc.- it's a buyer's market at the moment.

[graywolf73]

The previous poster is exactly right, it is a buyer's market. What you consider "low ball" may be what the house is really worth today, not yesterday, last week, or last year. I understand that you made improvements to the house, but a buyer should not be asked to pay for them just because you thought you wanted or needed them. We currently are buyers and are still amazed at how many home sellers are asking for last year's prices. I would consider a counter-offer on these buyers, at least you got an offer! If you don't want to sell it for close to what you paid for it then I would definitely take it off the market and wait until the market improves. But don't let them get away!

[scgraham]

I concur. The market will reveal what a home is really worth today.

[sunny505]

The market has nothing to do with what our house is worth. The market is just what people make it. The reason it is so low is because of all the foreclosures which was caused by the banks giving loans to people who are not credit worthy and don't pay their bills.
Why shouldn't we want them to pay for our new improvements, they will be the ones to enjoy them. If they don't want them they should look at a houses without them. Also the only reason they are looking at our house is because of the improvements.

[sunny505]

Graywolf73,

You wrote "I understand that you made improvements to the house, but a buyer should not be asked to pay for them ....."

just wondering, when's the last time you bought a new furnace, a/c unit, roof, new bathroom, etc. for someone that you don't know ? Good luck finding a home owner who will give you new fixtures for free.

"Last years prices" ? Homes are not suppose to depreciate in value unless they are not maintained or they were not built with quality material. If your looking for homes with a big price drop, you should be very concerned about the home. I know of a home that was sold for a lot less and it was not a good built home.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by sunny505

The market has nothing to do with what our house is worth. The market is just what people make it. The reason it is so low is because of all the foreclosures which was caused by the banks giving loans to people who are not credit worthy and don't pay their bills.
Why shouldn't we want them to pay for our new improvements, they will be the ones to enjoy them. If they don't want them they should look at a houses without them. Also the only reason they are looking at our house is because of the improvements.

These statements just go to show that you have absolutely no clue how the real estate market works, and you're destined to sit on your house for a very long time.

"The market" has everything to do with what your house is worth- "the market" sets your house's worth- the amount you paid for the house, the amount you put into improvements, or the amount you want to sell for have nothing at all to do with it's worth.

If I was to go and buy a rusty old 1950 Packard for $500, and send it off to a restoration company to have them strip it down to bare metal, clean, repair and paint every last part, rebuild the engine, install a new interior, and put it all back together at a cost of $150,000, I'd have a total investment of $150,500, and a car that has a "worth" on the open market of probably $45,000. In my mind, of course, it'd be "worth" much more (like at least $150,500, right?), but the open market wouldn't think so or be willing to pay that.

Four years ago I could have gone through the same process with a 1970 Hemi Barracuda convertible (though the restoration would likely have cost $250k), and sold that car at auction for over $2 million. If I did the same thing today, I "might" get $300k. At next year's auction, I'd probably lose money, because the collector car "market" isn't as strong as it was 3 years ago when people had money to throw away and saw these cars as "investements". Sound like another market (hint- your house is in it.....).

[sunny505]

First of all, your comparing apples to oranges when comparing cars to homes. Cars "Depreciate" in value and homes "Appreciate" in value. So therefore, you have no clue about houses if your comparing them to cars. This is just confusing the issue. Cars can be fun to collect, but in the end they are a hunk of metal and just there to get people from a to b. Not everyone is a car collector with a lot of money to spend on them.

[Jomaark]

Looking on the bright side you did get an offer but I can
understand your unhappiness. I've heard of sellers realtors going back to the buyers realtor and saying come back with a serious offer. I've heard of low bids not being responded to. I've heard it's just a test by the buyers and that you should go back with whatever concessions you would give if you got a reasonable offer so you may meet in the middle. What does your realtor suggest you go back with? How long have you lived in the house? Certain upgrades unfortunately don't add to the value and I think landscaping falls into that category. You paying for the inspection seems a bit too much.

[cool_mommy]

Sunny505 I wish you the best of luck in the sale of your home. I know it can be a very stressful time. Please keep us posted on the outcome. I'll be very interested to hear how it all turns out.