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Okay so we finally picked our agent and signed the papers. Much to my surprise three days later the agent said he has five people who want to see the house.
Am I getting my hopes up too high thinking somebody may offer us the list price, or do all buyers consider the list price "negotiable"??
Okay so we finally picked our agent and signed the papers. Much to my surprise three days later the agent said he has five people who want to see the house.
Am I getting my hopes up too high thinking somebody may offer us the list price, or do all buyers consider the list price "negotiable"??
If you allowed your realtor to price your house right it makes sense you'll get lots of attention from buyers, and get close to the asking price.
But unless there are multiple offers at the same time expect to have to negoiate.
Only once has someone offered me list price (and I accepted). It was a fabulous house and had immediate high activity; offer the same day as listing came out. Then the appraiser wouldn't approve the amount (later found out the bank appraiser was his uncle) and then inspector said there was evidence of termites at one time (later found out inspector was also a relative and I have always thought the "board" w/termite evidence carried down from the attic was a plant...we'd only lived there 18 months and it passed our inspector just perfectly). We had to make concessions; it was a corporate move and we were already moving. Big learning experience for me -- who thought she was pretty knowledgeable about RE -- in Grand Island, Nebraska! Now I am a qualified appraiser and I have my properties inspected before I list them. But....Good Luck!
Virtually no shoppers go out in this market and expect to offer the asking price. That said the fact that your agent has had requests from five buyers to view the property is a good sign -- it suggests that the listing agent has set a price that is attractive, has done a good job in the photos and other descriptions of the listing, and you are fortunate to have a property that has good "general appeal" (which is more modern way of saying you have NOT done anything to make the property ugly / freakish...).
From an emotional standpoint it is easy to assume that lots of showing early on will result in a quick sale, however you do not know how many of the "buyers" are shopping WAY over their head, have unrealistic expectations or are "just looking"...
If your agent has not already supplied with data about average time on market and percentage of ask vs close that data may help you understand how long you should expect to wait before things get to a done deal AND how much below ask the closing prices are...
Okay so we finally picked our agent and signed the papers. Much to my surprise three days later the agent said he has five people who want to see the house.
Am I getting my hopes up too high thinking somebody may offer us the list price, or do all buyers consider the list price "negotiable"??
If your home is priced right and in pristine condition, you will get offer(s) the same day (possibly more than asking). I made an offer (10K+ and waive home inspection) to purchase two weeks ago. After I saw the house and the asking price, I knew I had to offer as such because I know there will be multiple offers.
...and by the way, that particular home was listed on Sunday. Monday received multiple offers. They accepted my offer on Tuesday.
In the market here, if you have 5 people within 3 days that want to see a house, that's a GREAT thing! Some sellers would be more concerned they priced too low!
It's hard to predict what people will do - although, if multiple potential buyers show up, it might add a little 'competition' and keep the price up.
Keep us posted. I'd love to know what the turnout is from those 5.
Wow thanks for the responses. We interviewed a few agents and went with the one who we felt would really work hard to sell our house, but we asked all three how they would price the house. They were all close so we went with the recommendation. We have been working hard to get it ready in time for Spring buyers and signed with our agent on Tues eve. We still have a few things to do, for example I'm having the carpets cleaned on Saturday, and my husband is finishing up some yard work. We figured we had a week or so, but the agent called us on Wednesday and told us he had five people. Two were with agents who saw the sign in our yard that went up Tuesday. The others were from his office... it wasn't even in the MLS yet.. he wanted to show it tomorrow! We told him we need the weekend to finish up. I took off work tomorrow to do more cleaning. I'm excited but afraid to get my hopes up this soon.... this is stressful
So Tuesday was our official day of showing. List price is 699. It has been shown to four people. Two guys "loved it", and one had his wife drive from out of town to see it Wednesday. She loved it too. They made a cash offer of 585 on Thursday. We said no, with no counter offer. Our agent agreed. The other guy who loved it is waiting for his wife to get back in town, which will be next Sat. Supposedly this guy said he can't spend 700 without his wife's approval. According to our agent he has the cash.
Our agent called today and said he got a call that somebody else wants to make an offer even though they have never been inside. Not sure what that offer will be. Our agents office wants to hold an open house next weekend for three houses they have in this area. We're still deciding on the open house part, but he then shocked us by saying he thinks we should raise the price to 750 or 800. He said his office has a house listed at 750 and our house is nicer. The thing is we have the best lot on this lake. Water on three sides. It's the lot people are attracted to, the house itself could use some minor upgrades. House itself is structurally sound, I'm talking some cosmetic stuff, like we don't have granite counter tops or a paved driveway.
Odd to me that he wants to raise the price when we just had a low ball offer, but he said he talked to other agents in his office and they agreed. He is supposed to call us later to talk more.
Truth is, if somebody offered us the list price now we would take it. Seems like there is a numbers game here.... meanwhile I just want to move to Florida. I've had it with the mid-west.
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