Negotiating the price of a house (Phoenix: sales, mortgages, loan)

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

If you REALLY want the house, then don't low ball it that low. You'll never get the owner to negotiate and work with you if you insult them. Often, owners get offended by a really low balled offer. We have these discussions on the real estate forum.

True, but if you look around you'll prob find something you like for 400,000! Unless you are an invester looking to rent out? Then I don't like you. lol

[azloafer]

At certain times the seller may be desperate and consider a low offer. For example, we looked at two houses before buying a third one. The first was a man selling because his wife had died. He said that he was desperate and couldn't stand living in the house that he and his wife enjoyed for many years. He asked us to make an offer... any offer because he couldn't stand it any longer! We just didn't like the house. The second house was being sold by a woman whose husband had to have a golf course house! He had already moved there and left her to sell the remaining house. She said that their truck was being picked up by the repo man the next morning. They were up to date on the house payments, but only had enough money for two more months and then they would have to let the bank take it. She begged us to make ANY offer. She broke down and cried and said, "Please, anything!" We felt so bad, but again we didn't like the house enough to buy it. So there are always going to be times when someone just has to sell. It is just a matter of checking the homes out and finding the right situation where a low offer is welcomed. Of course, you will have to look at a lot of homes to find seller/s in a desperate state of mind, but they are out there.

[artvandelay]

A house is worth as much as YOU are willing to pay. If you ignore the artificial prices of the past 3 years, and base your decision on market facts such as schools, job growth (not hourly jobs!) and proximity, you'll know whether $400K is about right.

My street has had several house for sale the past 6 months, not a single buyer. A couple swithed to a For Lease, which scares the heck out of me. Many of these sellers have taken non-existent equity from the house recently, and can't budge on price. If your realtor can tell you which houses have 2nd mtg's, that is an indicator of price inflexibility.

[KarlaT2]

Have your realtor give you a list of comps sold in the area so you can get a good feel for $$$ per SF of houses that have actually sold in last 3-6 months. That will give you a good idea if the price on the house you are looking at is too high, and whether your $400,000 offer is in line with what others have sold for. Personally, I don't care what the asking price is - it's what the area is selling for that matters to me. We have 2 same model houses on my street (currently in La Quinta) that are priced at $550 and $570 that have been on the market over a year each. Someone one street over with same model dropped price to $499, and they sold in 3 weeks. Guess those other 2 are over priced for current $$ SF, but 2 years ago they would have sold in days.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

[nitram]

Every house or property I've bought in the Phoenix Metro area for the past 40 years, I've low balled everyone of them and got some smokin deals. Low ballin will get the honest price from a seller who is really motivated to sell. There is no such thing as an insult to any offer. It's what you're willing to pay.

[sassieb75]

We are thinking of selling our home. I want to price it just right and not too high. I need a certain amount to walk with. So if I do price it right(which will be lower than others in my neighborhood) is there still a chance I can sell in this market?? Im a little nervous about the whole idea. But, if it doesn't sell, we don't move, right?

[SpeedyAZ]

My professional opinion is that yes, you can lowball but not to the extent of where you're insulting the seller. If the home is priced at $500,000, a $400,000 offer (80% of the original price) is a bit too low and might worsen your chances of acuqiring the property. I'd say a good lowball offer would be $440,000-$450,000 and you can negotiate from there. If they're serious about selling they'll negotiate with you but if they won't negotiate than you better move on. However 80% of the asking price is a bit too low even for a fairly saturated market.

[PoolGoddess]

Thanks this information has been very helpful.

[sassieb75]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

If you REALLY want the house, then don't low ball it that low. You'll never get the owner to negotiate and work with you if you insult them. Often, owners get offended by a really low balled offer. We have these discussions on the real estate forum.

Where is this "Real estate" forum?

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by sassieb75

Where is this "Real estate" forum?

Go back to the main forum page and scroll down the page and you'll find it listed with other topic forums.