What to do if your realtor discourages you from buying (best neighborhood, sale)

[godivachoc]

Hi there

I am a first time home buyer and found a house I like in a small university town in Central Illinois. My husband I believe that the house is worth 7K more than what our realtor says its true value is. We want to offer 7K more than she suggested. She is very nice and I believe honest, so I don't think that she is purposefully discouraging us from buying the house. The comparative analysis is also not conclusive as I have not been inside any of the houses she picked to compare with. There are houses with similar square footage that have sold for much higher than what we'd like to offer and there are some that sold for what our realtor says is the true price of the house. So I am not sure who is right here. The house has been on the market for 45 days and our realtor thinks that it will sit there unless the sellers bring the price down.

I am not sure what we should do. We already made an offer in the range of what our realtor suggested to us and was turned down. We like the house but don't want to overpay significantly. Does anyone have any advice?
I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks

[chet everett]

Your realtor is almost certainly on the right track -- there is nothing for them to gain by discouraging you to overpay.

Depending on what else is going with the seller it may not make sense to up your offer if the seller has not responded to your initial offer. If the seller does make a counter proposal to your offer AND it is less than the additional $7k that you feel is still appropriate THEN your agent will have helped you save money.

If the seller comes back with an counter that is much higher than what are willing to spend then it makes no sense to "up the ante" if it still will not motivate the seller to acceptance...

[godivachoc]

Thanks for the advice. The seller gave a counteroffer which is about 12K more than we'd like to pay. So I guess we are walking away at this point.

[linicx]

Most sellers will accept 5% -10% lower than the asking price, but it depends upon the location and the neighborhood. Never buy the best house in the worst neibhotrhood. Buy the worst house in the BEST neighborhood. You'll usually get a good deal and have enough money to update it to your style. f the seller has had a bad experience with realtors, or a prior sale went sour, or if the seller has a lot of emotional attachement to the house, one of two things will evetually occur. 1- The buyer accepts your offer. 2- The buyer refuses to accept any offer lower than the asking price. It is all about money, It is all about how many offers have already been made on the house, and how long the seller is willing to wait before the asking price is met. The problem with the market right now is the overpriced houses are flat. You do not want to pay 7k more for a house if you cannot get your money back when you sell it five years from now. If you are not familiar with the area, you might find a house you like just as well a nearby town that has better pricing. IE the price spread between the house you want to buy is more in line with houses that have been "comped" in the last six months.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by godivachoc

Thanks for the advice. The seller gave a counteroffer which is about 12K more than we'd like to pay. So I guess we are walking away at this point.

And therein lies the reason why you should have listened to your realtor.

[sgresident]

I would keep looking! If they counter-offered 12 thousand more than you are willing to pay, they must really be after a certain price. You can always go back to that house if you don't find anything else. then make a different, but higher offer. As my mother likes to say, If you are meant to have that house, it will be so!

[rtop11]

What part of Central Illinois are you looking? My suggestion, if you decide to continue looking is to listen to your realtor, if you feel that she is honest. She is suppose to have your best interest if she is not acting as a dual agent. (both buyer and seller). You realtor can assist quite a bit. Good Luck! (Still would like to know what part of Central Illinois?)