A good tip for you house sellers... (Orlando, Rio: real estate, foreclosures)

[Rich_CD]

If you're trying to sell your house and not having much luck I have a tip for you.

Make it so that buyers can find out if you'll sell the house or not! Yep, sounds simple. But I've been looking to buy for months now and I've had more difficulty just trying to find out if a seller will accept my price than if I were to build a new house myself using just a hammer and some nails.

Why is it so difficult to just call and ask, Hey will you take this much for your house? OK, I'll look at it and buy it if I like it. How hard is that?

[amax41]

while I could agree with you, there is no way that will ever happen. Remember that greed rules the world that's why we are in this mess.

[GregTraub]

Originally Posted by Rich_CD

If you're trying to sell your house and not having much luck I have a tip for you.

Make it so that buyers can find out if you'll sell the house or not! Yep, sounds simple. But I've been looking to buy for months now and I've had more difficulty just trying to find out if a seller will accept my price than if I were to build a new house myself using just a hammer and some nails.

Why is it so difficult to just call and ask, Hey will you take this much for your house? OK, I'll look at it and buy it if I like it. How hard is that?

I beleive what a seller says they will sell their home for is called their asking price. You know that going in, and if you like it you put your offer in, not to hard at all.

If all you're doing is calling them up out of the blue and asking for a discounted price, what you're doing is asking people to start negotiating against themselves because there is 0 commitment on your end, at least a written offer would show some bit of commitment. When negotiating, sometimes you have to give a little to get something back, especially at the outset of negotiations. No one will beleive your offer is remotely serious going about it the way you are, hence the lack of response you are getting. No one wants to waste their time.

Especially if your calling up the agent of the property, there's no way I'm going to my sellers and telling them all we have is a verbal offer of price without knowing any of the other conditions, and the buyer hasn't even seen it yet or said they even like the house!

Yes sellers are at a dissadvantage selling their homes now, but only a very ignorant seller would put themselves at an even greater dissadvantage by seriously entertaining verbal offers from someone who hasn't even decided if they like the home or not. Try at least putting offers in writting, that way they will at least be worth a look. Though it also wouldn't be advisable to put in binding offers on a home you haven't even seen in person.

[Rich_CD]

Thx for the response, but help me a bit more.

"I beleive what a seller says they will sell their home for is called their asking price. You know that going in, and if you like it you put your offer in, not to hard at all."

So, you're saying if I'm not willing to pay the full asking price don't bother them? You are aware that the asking price is an inflated price in the hopes of getting the values driven up? That's one of the reasons people are now going into foreclosure because they can't sell the home because it's actual value is not what they paid.

"If all you're doing is calling them up out of the blue and asking for a discounted price, what you're doing is asking people to start negotiating against themselves because there is 0 commitment on your end, at least a written offer would show some bit of commitment."

I had to perform quite a bit of work to get the number I'm stating! Who calls people at random asking if they will take money for their home? What would writing the price down on paper instead of email do to make things different?

"When negotiating, sometimes you have to give a little to get something back, especially at the outset of negotiations."

Huh?

"No one will beleive your offer is remotely serious going about it the way you are, hence the lack of response you are getting. No one wants to waste their time."

Who has time to goof around like you're implying??? I would have already bought a home if the agent would have just asked if they would accept the price.

"Especially if your calling up the agent of the property, there's no way I'm going to my sellers and telling them all we have is a verbal offer of price without knowing any of the other conditions, and the buyer hasn't even seen it yet or said they even like the house!"

So, I'm the customer and "I" should do a bunch of stuff to waste "my" time. What conditions? If they will accept the price, I look at the home and if it is acceptable I buy. PERIOD.

"Yes sellers are at a dissadvantage selling their homes now, but only a very ignorant seller would put themselves at an even greater dissadvantage by seriously entertaining verbal offers from someone who hasn't even decided if they like the home or not."

What are you talking about. My time is important. Do they want someone who "can" buy at the stated price. Or do they want to have to play games to help someone who has more time than money figure out a way to buy the home?

"Try at least putting offers in writting, that way they will at least be worth a look."

Writing an offer on paper does nothing except tie up the market while people try to play a chess game of "can we get more money". Some prices I was willing to pay a few months back have come and gone and the home went into foreclosure. If the people had been willing to take a look they wouldn't be in foreclosure, how does that do any good?

"Though it also wouldn't be advisable to put in binding offers on a home you haven't even seen in person."

You just say it yourself the offer isn't even necessarily binding.

I really see what you've said as being nothing more than time wasting hogwash that hopes to get someone who is uninformed about the actual value of a home to pay more that it is worth. OK, for some. But, people are losing their ass in this market and it would be good to put aside greed and try to work a bit better on selling their home.

I'm not trying to back talk your response. Help me to understand how in the world the process you described does anything but cause problems and wasted time! I can see how it traps people in negotiations they should not waste time on, but other than that I don't see any good to it.

Is the idea to wear potential buyers down in the hopes they will pay more just to quit playing games? Man-o-man, I just don't get it.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by Rich_CD

If you're trying to sell your house and not having much luck I have a tip for you.

Make it so that buyers can find out if you'll sell the house or not! Yep, sounds simple. But I've been looking to buy for months now and I've had more difficulty just trying to find out if a seller will accept my price than if I were to build a new house myself using just a hammer and some nails.

Why is it so difficult to just call and ask, Hey will you take this much for your house? OK, I'll look at it and buy it if I like it. How hard is that?

Why is it so difficult to look at a house and then make an offer if you don't like the asking price?

If I was selling, I wouldn't even begin to consider an offer unless it was accompanied by a deposit and written contract. If someone isn't serious, I wouldn't waste my time.

[bdpop]

In New Jersey, I believe there was a waiting period where either party could back out of the sale contract. Does that exist here in Florida?

[faithfulFrank]

Florida real estate is lightning fast compared to up here in NY.
As to the OP, I have sold a number of homes, and would not discuss a price with anyone who has not looked at the house, etc......I would consider that rude.

How could you be serious without even seeing the house? When I sell a house, it is looking great, inside and out. I work hard to get it show quality, everything just right. People tour it, inspect it, become impressed with it, and want it.....they submit a good faith offer that reflects their desire to be the next owners, and in the end, all are happy.

Both parties invest time, money, and passion.

I would not waste my time with anything or anyone less. Every house has it's price, and that is found by market conditions and negotiations. People who are just looking for a quick deal are a waste of my time. Even when I'm looking for a house to flip, I look at it first......I want to see what I'm buying, what I have to do, and I think any seller AND any buyer deserves that. Real estate is not ebay.......

Frank D.

[amax41]

Originally Posted by GregTraub

I beleive what a seller says they will sell their home for is called their asking price. You know that going in, and if you like it you put your offer in, not to hard at all.

If all you're doing is calling them up out ...................<clipped>.

As usual this is the standard Real Estate sales guy approach to life down here. I have to be honest it makes me puke sometimes.... here is why.

While the verbage is fitting in this situation (Florida Real Estate) the part that isn't mentioned is this -

Scenario -

House is listed at $325,000 just so the RE guy has stats. - 4/2/2 2000sf.

We go look at this house...we establish in our minds that $325K is way out of line. Here is what we hear over and over and over.... the spiel I cut off in the quote up top...AND.... "You don't want to offer him too low a price because you'll insult him".

That last line leads to the "puke" of it all. Insult?? maybe he's an idiot! Face it RE Sales people could really care less what you list it for as long as it's in range they are fine. It's all about that commission check (especially here in FL). The offer / counteroffer process is negotiation. So if I offer $240K for that house so what! Note that it's a STARTING POINT. If the seller is insulted then I need to move on because my bet is, based upon my experience, that the house is done up cheaply, has problems that are hidden, done incorrectly (as in the owner did it but has to read how to use a hammer), or all or some of the above. Therefore I really need to walk away.

This is a huge soapbox for me, and it's been rattling my cage ever since moving to FL.

[AONE]

I have found some people want to low ball offers just to see if they can get huge discounts. Most people won't accept those offers but periodically I ahve found homes where people will accept 60-70% LTV. With the short sales and foreclosures there are plenty of bargains out there. If the property has already been discounted 30% don't expect to get another 30% it will rarely happen, if at all. I don't find it hard to make offers at what ever discount rate you want to deal with but owners can say no. Not everyone is desperate.

I received 2 offers on 2 properties I had listed in the middle of the night once by someone that was just faxing out contracts with 30% discounts. They never even called to query or go see the homes. The offers were not taken seriously by either owner. There are many "investors" that waste peoples time. It isnt hard to find deals but it is annoying when people can't recognize when a home is a deal.
Ken Anderson
and yes I am an Orlando Realtor.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by bdpop

In New Jersey, I believe there was a waiting period where either party could back out of the sale contract. Does that exist here in Florida?

No. It does not exist for cars either, btw. Only for door to door home sales, for things such as pots and pans, or water softeners.