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OP - you may know the market, but you don't know the buyer. Failure is accomplished by trying, and so is success. Success on the other hand can ONLY be be accomplished by trying.
I'm not sure what that means. We have decided to take the house off the market next month at the end of the contract. We are doing some upgrades and sprucing up and if a job elsewhere comes up, we'll close the house and put it back on the market. I'll replace the quality things, like fixtures with plastic and take the good ones with me, the area rugs, replace the nice window coverings with adequate ones, take the appliances and then, the bottom feeders can come in.
I wish we would have counter-offered with a higher than what it was on the market for though as someone suggested but other than that, no regrets. Did some background checking and know it was the decision to make.
My bet is the guy doesn't buy and I am keeping an eye on that. I love being right!
We have decided to take the house off the market next month at the end of the contract.
That's what we did, we were originally motivated to sell because the bills were kinda tight with our mortgage. But decide we were not giving our house away, so we decided to keep it. Just because it's a buyers market, doesn't mean were going to accept what every crappy offer buyers throw out there.
Here's the thing ... home values are NOT hard. There is no such thing as intrinsic value in a home.
Even if I build a home and it cost $1 million ... how much value is there in that home? $1 million? $2 million? What if the best offer I get on it is $250k and that's the highest anyone is willing to pay for anything?
I have news for you: the market doesn't care what YOU think your home is worth, it only cares what IT thinks its worth. If people think your $1 million home is only worth $250k, then I have news for you: it's only worth $250k.
Buying and selling a home is like buying or selling any other commodity, like gold, silver, oil, wood, corn, salt. If the world is running out of salt, it will bid the price way up. If the world is awash in gold, the price will plummet. Same goes for homes.
You should never see your home as a piggy bank.
It is merely some wood and plaster, insulation, maybe brick, maybe composite or vinyl, some glass, and that's it. It's a HOME.
If you can't afford to sell, don't sell. If you must move, then sorry, the market is a game run by numbers.
I surely don't consider what one potential buyer had to offer reflected the value of the house anymore than what we see the value of the house to be. I'm just not getting that. Also, it is not clear to me why they asked for items not being offered as an option at the asking price. I got the idea from something the realtor said that they would give us back some of the appliances, etc. in a negotiation but they were ours in the first place? It perplexed me on the appliances because the realtor had said not to list them as an option but I had thought listing the range and refrigerator, since our property would be attractive to entry level buyers, would be attractive to someone just starting out on a more limited budget.
There are actually other things that did not set right in the deal and how it was going down. You know when something is right and this wasn't.
I didn't mention that I don't like games of any kind and take money very seriously. So, we are content to pull it from the market.
Thanks to everyone and this has really helped us make our minds up and feel good about the decision.
Wow, I had no idea people offering 25% below selling was common place. I thought my 10-12% below Listing starting offers were borederline. Apparently I have to rethink my negotiation tactics lol.
It means some buyers are willing to pay Way more than their initial offer, but you will never know since you didn't "fish" for a higher price other than the one you were asking.
Sprucing up the place sounds like a good idea - the last couple years in my area though, the most activity has been early spring to mid-summer - after that, spruced-up or not, things have moved VERY slow.
Is it common in your area to exclude appliances and window treatments from a real estate purchase?
Apparently it is. Most people take everything with them and leave the house totally empty which is what we plan to do eventually. Supposedly, sometimes the range and/or frig are asked for with the washer/dryer usually not staying. We were going to leave window blinds/shades which I will still do but take the expensive rods, etc. with me. They asked for the area rugs, room size also. None of this would have been an issue if not for the 25% below asking that they offered. All appliances are nice, clean and 5 years or less old.
I was told that the buyer would not be willing to go up much on price. It was best for him to also not haggle since he wanted a pretty quick possession.
Lots of people are finding it to their advantage to take just take the money they would lose on the current house and put it into improvements and repairs on the current unless they MUST relocate. In total, we would need $10,000 to $15,000 after the proposed sale to replace the house (not to mention the cost of replacing appliances, etc.) with something similar so, $10,000 to $15,000 could mean a newer vehicle or maybe a camper or a Disney Dream Vacation and still own a home with a large lot in a place where we have two incomes. So, why would have made sense to sign this sales contract?
Last edited by AnywhereElse; 04-18-2012 at 12:07 PM..
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It perplexed me on the appliances because the realtor had said not to list them as an option but I had thought listing the range and refrigerator, since our property would be attractive to entry level buyers, would be attractive to someone just starting out on a more limited budget.
So, we are content to pull it from the market. 
