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We offered 10K less than asking on a house thats been on the market since Sept. It was just a starting point for us. In the current market would you consider that very low ball? We didnt appreciate the feedback we got from their realtor and are seriously thinking of walking away bec of her attitude. They didnt even counter, we were told if we are serious about the house we should make a serious offer.
We sold our house in MA, both offers we received were $20K below asking price (35K below orig asking). We ended up selling for $7400 below asking price.
Doesnt a person have to leave some room for negotiation?!
In the current market I wouldn't consider it lowball. Of course the market is softer in MA. I remember when the downturn started there. It took sellers a good six months to catch on. For a house in the high 200's (which I think you said in a previous post) and on for that length of time - no, I don't.
Hard to discuss without knowing what the original list price was or the condition of the house. $10K below list on a $300K house vs. $10K below list on $150K house are two very different things IMO. $10K below list on a house needing a lot of updating vs. a 1-year-old house is also very different. This all assumes the house was priced in line with recent comps to begin with.
I do not think there is just one "market" in the Triangle. There are a lot of "micro" markets in the Triangle in my opinion. Things affecting the price in any given neighborhood really depend on which city or town you are talking about, Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill ect.... The exact neighborhood..... whether it is new or resale.....whether or not the house is competing with new construction in the same neighborhood....how long it has been on the market.... and what price point you are talking about.
All of these things factor into what "The Market" is doing in my humble opinion. Blanket statements about the market as a whole in this area are useless to me. What I think you really need to know is what is going on in the town in that particular neighborhood at the price point you are interested in.
Good Luck!
Last edited by North_Raleigh_Guy; 12-05-2007 at 07:48 AM..
Reason: Horrendous Spelling!!
It really depends on what the sellers are asking for the house. In most cases, I think sellers are overly optimistic about what their home is worth, and also may ask more than they really expect to get to leave room for "negotiation." In others the sellers may be desperate to sell and have already priced their house well below everything else. I did that when I sold -- the market for condos was terrible where I lived. I looked at every other 2 bedroom condo in my area (not just comparables but places that might work for people considering mine) and priced mine below EVERYTHING else. This worked for me -- I was the only one in my building to sell. I would not have lowered my price because my strategy was to list for as low as I could possibly go. (My realtors did not agree, by the way, but it worked for me.)
Anyway, I guess the answer to what is a "low-ball" offer depends on the asking price. You need to have a realtor you trust, and you need to personally look at other houses that would work for you. Look at comparables, how long the house has been on the market, if its price has already been reduced. Hope this helps.
I was going to say 10k on a 150k house compared to 10k on a 500k house makes a difference. LOL! I think we all know that. So I guess it gets into %s. I knew the neighborhood and the price range because of the Direct Messages due to our MA/NC connection There are micro markets because everything is subdivision oriented around here compared to MA. I know that for example Brenkenridge is a top 10 resale for Morrisville and Oxxford Hunt is an older neighborhood that is a top 10 resale for Cary. So, there are quite a few variables. But I still don't think 10k is a lot. The market is softer here. And I don't think it will get as bad as MA. It was never as over inflated as MA to begin with.
Asking price is close to $300K. House is in overall good condition but there are things that will require work for instance the backyard is pretty much clover weeds instead of grass. The ground netting is showing on a couple of places, so we'd prob have to remove the weeds, truck in a load of soil and plant new grass. Some other small things, but the $ adds up.
Compared on comps the house is priced well, maybe slightly over. Our realtor thought our initial offer was a perfect starting point.
Our realtor told us that theirs is frustrating to work as she's unreachable 99.9% of the time. We made the offer on Monday and our realtor is still waiting for the disclosures to be faxed over.
Ive already started looking at houses again bec I know this isnt going to work out.
Asking price is close to $300K. House is in overall good condition but there are things that will require work for instance the backyard is pretty much clover weeds instead of grass. The ground netting is showing on a couple of places, so we'd prob have to remove the weeds, truck in a load of soil and plant new grass. Some other small things, but the $ adds up.
Compared on comps the house is priced well, maybe slightly over. Our realtor thought our initial offer was a perfect starting point.
I'm not a pro, but I agree with your realtor. I think a $290K offer on a $300K house in general is a good starting point! At the very least I would expect a counter offer. I would not consider $10K below list at that price range a "low ball" offer at all. Seems like a great place to start. Hopefully the sellers will come to their senses and try to work with you and your realtor.
I don't think that $10K (or 3%) would be in the "insult the seller" range, and I'm fairly easily insulted when I'm selling a house. Were there other contingencies in your offer?
It's amazing how many really bad realtors there are out there. The seller's agent for my current house didn't understand what it meant when the appraisal came in 8K under the contract price (he thought I had to buy it anyway, hello 'appraisal contingency').
I guess it comes down to how badly you want that house - realizing that the whole transaction will likely be a trial of patience.
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