Why does a prospective buyer waste everyone's time with a super low ball offer? (2015, mortgage)
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lol...i would have never even responded to the first offer. Just let it expire. Tell your Realtor....just let it fade. Insult the MOFO's by not even responding. Realtor's job is to present the offer. You don't have to respond. Just say, "ok i got that offer...thanks!"
Let their deposit sit in escrow and tell your realtor to hold onto it for as long as they legally can....hahaha.
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Hold on to what escrow deposit? It's a unaccepted offer there is no escrow money. You're not even at the negotiating table looking at the money.The escrow money only comes into play AFTER you accept the offer. And at any time within X days I as the buyer can walk away AND get my escrow money. You have no say about it. So you're not holding on to anything. You're not even seeing the money. And by not responding you're not insulting anyone. Especially if you're in a slow market
lol...i would have never even responded to the first offer. Just let it expire. Tell your Realtor....just let it fade. Insult the MOFO's by not even responding. Realtor's job is to present the offer. You don't have to respond. Just say, "ok i got that offer...thanks!"
Let their deposit sit in escrow and tell your realtor to hold onto it for as long as they legally can....hahaha.
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You don't present money with an offer, it's only after the offer is accepted.
I would have been insulted with such a low ball offer and I wouldn't counter or do business with this character ever. It's obvious he is a clown, wasting your time....
An offer is the starting point of a conversation about the price of an asset. It isn't the ending point. Why would you refuse to do business with someone simply because your respective offers differ?
Selling a house is a business transaction and there is no place for emotion in the negotiating process.
I finally got an offer on my house but it was $100K below the already low asking price. Realtor agreed it was a ridiculous offer. I countered but buyer came up only $5K. Told realtor I'm finished this buyer unless he comes up with a *reasonable* offer. Why do people do this, trying to get something for nothing? They wasted time and money of several persons involved. Glad this happened early in the process instead of just before closing, but I'm still angry. Anyone else have this happen?
The buyers are trying to get the best deal they can. Don't get angry. Don't be insulted. This is a business transaction. Stick to your guns but keep your head clear.
What happened to the good old days of offers being presented with an earnest money check? Is that just not done anywhere any more?
No money is given to the sellers when an offer is made. A deposit - may have a different name in different states - is typically given to a realtor or attorney and put into escrow. If the deal falls apart, the money is given back to the buyer. There are only a handful of reasons a seller ever gets to keep that money and they vary by state and contract.
I buy rentals and never pay anywhere near asking. I always super low ball, more than 20% down on some offers, but I also shotgun offers, 5-10 houses at a time. I'm looking for the best deal so if I insult a few people along the way what do I care, I also don't see it as a waste of anyones time. It takes a whole minute to look over an offer big waste there.
Just a comment that there are two kinds of sellers: those who are investors who are selling rentals and homeowners who are selling their homes.
For the former type it's not such a big deal to get a low-ball offer - you're right he/she can take one brief tiny minute to consider the offer. Not a waste of time on anyone's part.
But the latter type of seller is a different matter. A homeowner selling his house (and the first step is to emotionally detach and call it a "house" and not a "home") invests a ton of time to get the house in marketable shape, keep it in show-ready condition 24/7, and interrupt life by vacating every time there's a showing. At the onset, of course, serious homeowners have to realize and be accepting of what is required to sell, but to invest time and sacrifice lifestyle and then receive a ridiculous offer is frustrating. Surely it only takes a minute to look over an offer, but it IS a big waste of time overall for that homeowner.
As other posters have written, one important detail left out of the original post was the price range. It's exact that a $1 mil offer on a $1.1 mil house isn't low-ball. But a $200,000 offer on a $300,000 price (if that listing price is truly justified) is a ridiculous low-ball and a waste of time. I would counter with a stay-firm or would insult the buyer back by countering with a measly $1,000 reduction. And then move on.
Depending on your location, here in KS, because winter is coming and taxes are due in December, the low ballers come out of the woodwork. A lot of people here remove their houses this time of year to avoid the hassle of dealing with the low ballers. They come out looking for the desperate and they always find a few.
We had someone offer 25% less once and they wanted everything in the house to stay, more or less. The realtor tried to talk us into taking the offer. As it turns out, I checked the realtor's FB page and found the person offering was her friend. We ended up getting asking price and not even bothering to counter on the 25% less.
On our current house, we just took it off the market for winter. The realtor wanted to know if we were interested in hearing what someone interested in our house had to offer BUT they were still working on their credit since they could not get a loan. Seriously? They have no money to buy.
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