Can I make an offer during a house showing with owner present? (buyer, office)

[brunette-T]

it'll be the 2nd time we see the house, and we're sure we want it.

can we present a verbal offer right then & there to the realtor with the owner there? or is that bad business?

TIA!

[DawnSells]

I think the owner and the agent would be a little taken back. An offer really isn't an offer unless it is in writing. They are not going to negotiate right there on the spot.

[brunette-T]

yeah, now that i think about it, it would make for an awkward situation.

although i do hear that many people, esp. in LI, have bought their homes starting with verbal offers & negotiations.

[zulu400]

Originally Posted by brunette-T

yeah, now that i think about it, it would make for an awkward situation.

although i do hear that many people, esp. in LI, have bought their homes starting with verbal offers & negotiations.

Verbal offers are not the problem. Unless you want to get a kick out of watching the sellers expression when you put your offer ahead, I would suggest call the agent 5 mins after you leave the house to make the offer. Nothing would have changed in the past 5 minutes believe me. The realtor might then have you come to their office or something and get the offer in writing.

Coming to think of it, it should be fun.... to offer 300k for a 400k house in front of the owner and see how they react.... be prepared to run.

[brunette-T]

Originally Posted by zulu400

Verbal offers are not the problem. Unless you want to get a kick out of watching the sellers expression when you put your offer ahead, I would suggest call the agent 5 mins after you leave the house to make the offer. Nothing would have changed in the past 5 minutes believe me. The realtor might then have you come to their office or something and get the offer in writing.

Coming to think of it, it should be fun.... to offer 300k for a 400k house in front of the owner and see how they react.... be prepared to run.

funnier, when you put it that way. but yeah, i was just so turned off by the seller's agent telling us over the phone that our range of offer was too low and we should make a higher offer. but the more i read, she might be scammin', who knows. house has been on the market for two years. seller's agent said it was due to medical problems the seller's had. either way, we're not offering more than we can afford. we go see the house again this afternoon, so we shall see.

[zulu400]

Originally Posted by brunette-T

we're not offering more than we can afford.

Stick to this.... forever !!! and you will be in good shape.

[Walter Greenspan]

While you cannot make an offer, you can certainly make a bid!

In any transaction, be it a house or 100 shares of XYZ Corp. or 5,000 bushels of corn or 1,000 42-gallon barrels of crude oil, a seller makes an offer to sell, while a buyer makes a bid to buy.

[TomMoser]

I see no reason not to state your offer in front of the seller. You may pick up some valuable information without it being filtered through the agent.

[dooser11]

I believe if you have an opportunity to be seen by the seller and or make an offer it strengthens your offer. You are no longer just an offer but now a person, a face with a story, potentially a family etc. An example is nothing makes an older seller more happier then seeing a young family buy their home and raise their family in it. They will remember the "hard" times they had years ago etc. Not saying you will get a deal but face to face contact makes it harder to say no to other issues etc and in my experience makes the little things easier to work through.

[jpg71]

I would say to both the seller and their agent something along the lines of "I'm confident that I will present an offer to you very shortly - can I bring the offer letter to your office later today?"

That way you've made your interest known to the seller directly, and you're not putting them in an awkward position to have to respond to you immediately.