When Making an offer on a house do you go by what realtor says? (Phoenix: 2014, foreclosure)

[John7777]

Don't forget who the realtor works for. Hint: it isn't you.

[PhureeKeeper]

OP: How long has it been on the market?
I'd also be concerned about house right next door also for sale? Makes me go hmmmm. Unusual for 85224.

[Sunshinegirl7]

It's been on the market for 38 days, she told me she can't believe it doesn't have an offer, but I feel like I am falling for typical lines.

I am loving the idea of a fixer upper. There are a ton in Tempe for $220-$250,000 and some even cheaper, do you think this is a good idea? would it be worth buying one that needs tons of work, putting money and possibly a pool or resurfacing the pools already in the ground with pebble tec? Do you think tempe is going to keep it's value that it seems to have?

[AlohaFriday]

Tempe is probably a good investment. It's landlocked so values there are generally higher than surrounding areas. And with all the development going on at the lake, Tempe seems to be headed in a good direction.

That said, there's a lot of crime in pockets of Tempe, so it would be a good idea to check the stats or call the cops and talk to them.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

A few points... While the RE agent "works for you", they also work for for themselves. Meaning when they submit a worthless low-ball bid, they just got to work for free. There are a lot of forms to process by submitting a bid. Forgive the RE's if they see you are a bottom feeder wanting to lowball. They value their time as much as you value you your money. Disclaimer: I'm not an RE sales person but I do sell widgets for a living. Some people love picking my brain for hours and offering a price which is below my costs. It's frustrating and part of the gig. But if I smell a low-baller, I quickly cut bait. I diverge....

There are only 3 possibilities:
1. You are low balling and don't know it.
2. The RE agents does not know the market very well. Where is she normally work? I only hire agents who have a good command of the exact area I'm looking at. I would not hire a gilbert focused agent for Ahwatukee (as an example).
3. Or, you hired someone who isn't that smart or experienced.

From the $$'s and comps you presented, $300Kish makes sense. But make sure the next door neighbor listing isn't a foreclosure etc or their selling price would be screwy. With that said, a 22xx square foot home in the right neighborhood in Surprise sells for $110 a square foot. In Chandler, there should be a solid +$20 a square foot premium. Add $10K minimum for a pool. That works out to be around $300K ish. Hence, without knowing the comps, the listing price seems very reasonable.

Originally Posted by jimj

I was once told by an AWSOME agent we had years ago "you don't get if you don't ask" which means there's only one way to get the price you're thinking and that's to offer it. Worst case they say "no".

One other thing (before it comes up) I always roll my eyes when I hear the sentence "well you don't want to insult them with your offer". I've heard this several times over the years on BOTH sides of a house sale.

It's business, if being offered money insults a person then they need to either 1.Stop doing business. 2.Allow someone who's comfortable doing business handle things.

Jimj, I disagree with your statement about upsetting someone. It depends. If someone lowballed me on my home I'd be offended. If I felt comfortable knowing I could sell it to someone else in a reasonable amount of time, I would not bother countering. I'd tell my agent to call them and let them I was offended. When I would refuse to counter, they would figure out they just screwed themselves out of trying to see if I was stupid.

I've factually black balled low-ballers from buying my homes or properties. Forgetting my emotions, I picture problem buyers (think arbitration) in the coming months.

A lot of words to let you know there is a subset of us sellers where it does hurt to ask. A $10K low offer is fair. A $30K offer that is really below the market is a slap in the face.

[Sunshinegirl7]

It was just based on the houses all around it, all of them were in the low $200,000's and the only ones in the mid 250's were the ones with similiar comps maybe a little less, it was a little bigger in square footage. Where I came from in PA low balling is normal, I bought my house $25,000 less than asking price and the seller was unhappy but had no other offers, well it came right back at me this year, I had the house appraised for 180,000 after putting 30,000 into it within 6 years and only sold it for 157,500 and used a realtor so I lost out, I walked away with a little more than I put into it so I am happy to be out from under it.

I am in love with a house in Tempe, it has multiple offers already with congencies so if I want to make an offer it would have to be now, they bought it for $233,000 in September of 2013 and are now asking $310,000, the picture is below and the ONLY things I don't like are the looks of the front and back and teh pool is stained nothing really that bad but I was thinking if I bought it, I woudl eventually pebble tec finish it. The pool is a little bigger than I wanted. Is there anything I could do to the front of this house below to spruce it up?

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Sunshinegirl7

It was just based on the houses all around it, all of them were in the low $200,000's and the only ones in the mid 250's were the ones with similiar comps maybe a little less, it was a little bigger in square footage. Where I came from in PA low balling is normal, I bought my house $25,000 less than asking price and the seller was unhappy but had no other offers, well it came right back at me this year, I had the house appraised for 180,000 after putting 30,000 into it within 6 years and only sold it for 157,500 and used a realtor so I lost out, I walked away with a little more than I put into it so I am happy to be out from under it.

I am in love with a house in Tempe, it has multiple offers already with congencies so if I want to make an offer it would have to be now, they bought it for $233,000 in September of 2013 and are now asking $310,000, the picture is below and the ONLY things I don't like are the looks of the front and back and teh pool is stained nothing really that bad but I was thinking if I bought it, I woudl eventually pebble tec finish it. The pool is a little bigger than I wanted. Is there anything I could do to the front of this house below to spruce it up?

I don't know the Tempe market very well, but rather than simply comparing the selling price to that of the neighbors, which may vary in size, you need to determine if there is value at $129/sq ft in the area. I would think the proximity to the 60 may hurt you a bit but it seems like a decent deal based on my limited knowledge. I must admit that the outside is hideous though and I think being a tri-level will automatically limit your buyer-pool when you go to sell.

[Sunshinegirl7]

The inside of that house is incredible! the buyer bought it last year and completely remodeled it since he is a contractor and the wife is an interior decorator. My idea thing would be to do the same, find a cheap deal and slowly remodel but I can't seem to find cheap enough deals. he bought the house Sept 2013 for 233,000 and is now selling for $310,000 and got 2 offers on the first day. That's what I am looking for a good deal for a fixer upper in a good area.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Sunshinegirl7

The inside of that house is incredible! the buyer bought it last year and completely remodeled it since he is a contractor and the wife is an interior decorator. My idea thing would be to do the same, find a cheap deal and slowly remodel but I can't seem to find cheap enough deals. he bought the house Sept 2013 for 233,000 and is now selling for $310,000 and got 2 offers on the first day. That's what I am looking for a good deal for a fixer upper in a good area.

If you're ambitious, I'd bet that you could easily find an outdated house and update it to those standards or better for less overall money spent. While nice and new, it doesn't appear to have undergone an extensive remodel. The floors are basic inexpensive tile, it looks like it has the original cabinets that were painted, threw some mid-level granite on them, paint, carpet and a couple prefab vanities. You could easily do that without paying the flipper's profit.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by Sunshinegirl7

The inside of that house is incredible! the buyer bought it last year and completely remodeled it since he is a contractor and the wife is an interior decorator. My idea thing would be to do the same, find a cheap deal and slowly remodel but I can't seem to find cheap enough deals. he bought the house Sept 2013 for 233,000 and is now selling for $310,000 and got 2 offers on the first day. That's what I am looking for a good deal for a fixer upper in a good area.

The thing is, finding "deals" like that is a full-time job in and of itself. In most cases, you'll need a real-estate license & the ability to close with full-cash (not a loan) in just a few days. If a property is for sale, and an identical "comp" has an $80k spread in price, you can bet the "cheap" house is going to have problems with financing. Even with 25% down, the lender I usually use will disqualify homes with missing fixtures, holes in the drywall, or tattered carpet. ( it doesn't matter if I can easily pay for those things & still have 25% down) - it's all about the condition at the time of appraisal.

If you've got cash, the world is your oyster, but you're writing a big check at the beginning & a bunch of smaller checks shortly thereafter in the hope that you'll be able to capture that spread in values - and keep in mind, your *buyer* will see what you paid & want a "cut" of that spread, as will every contractor you try to hire to do any repairs. When rehabbing my own houses, it wasn't at all unusual to see quotes for fairly minor jobs have a spread in quoted prices from $800 - $4,000+... The contractors could clearly see the house was "destroyed" with a dumpster out front, and since the "money truck" was backed up to the door, they wanted some..

In 2004, there was a very real danger that a buyer might unwittingly pay $30K, $50K, or $100k too much because the banks were so lazy with their appraisals.. ( lol... a "drive by" appraisal" - who would even think that was possible!).. today, I don't think that's nearly as much of an issue. I don't see anything appraising even 5% above the most recent *true* comparable unless it's a highly defensible appraisal..