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Our home is under contract by Pakastani buyers that want it for investment property.
We listed the home for $194,500. (Lower than other homes similar in size and bedrooms despite being on a corner lot and no homes behind ours). We live in a highly desirable area where homes get offers within 10 days (we got this offer on day 9)
Buyer Original Offer: 179,900 (offensive lowball) and wants professional carpet cleaning.
Seller Counter: $190,000
Buyer Counter: $185,000
Seller stays firm at $190,000
Buyer counter $187,000 and states 'final offer'
Seller accepts but agrees to clean carpet themselves
Buyer agrees
Inspection:
Possible foundatiom issue and other minor problems such as windows needing to be resealed and a few fence pickets needing replace.
Post Inspection negotiations:
Buyer: No price change but seller to get a foundation company to fix the 1" elevation difference on the corner of the house. Seller also must use a licensed pro to repair the other issues.
Seller counter: Free evaluation quotes a price of $4000 to place piers under the slab foundation. The work comes with transferrable lifetime warranty. Seller agrees to the foundation repair and to perform the other minor repairs themselves.
Buyer counter: Buyer accepts but now wants an additional $2k off the house.
Seller counter: Absolutely not.
Buyer: Threatens to terminate the contract before the option period if sellers doesn't drop another $2k. They bluff all day and now just want another $1k off. They then threaten to terminate the contract if seller doesn't come down another $1k before the option period ends in 36 hours.
Any thoughts?
I feel like they are just trying to bully us at this point. They won't be able to find a home like ours for what we agreed upon. There is really no reason for us to go down another $1k. We are going to spend $4k for foundation repairs. We came down so much on a fair listing price. We are frankly sick of dealing with their overly aggressive negotiating tactics. If they want to terminate the agreement over $1k (throwing their $100 option fee and $300 inspection down the drain in the meantime) so be it.
I know we should leave emotions out of it but Id rather sell to someone else for less than be bullied by these ppl in a sellers market. We are moving bc we want to, not bc we have to.
Your home value has now decreased because of the foundation problem. That's just a fact. So whether the buyer was getting the house below market value before or not, the house really has decreased in value since the original contract.
Investors are business people. They're hard nosed and drive a hard bargain. They don't love or even like your house. It's just a way to earn some $$$.
Just my personal feelings, if it were me: I would be tempted to walk away from that buyer, since I live in a good selling area and have a decent house, IF I can take the time to wait for another buyer (consider the property taxes and other expenses you'll be paying in the interim...if you pay $1,000 for holding the property for two more months, and then find a buyer who will pay what this current buyer is paying...you make $1,000 less.) But I would be so disgusted with the buyer, on a personal level, that I'm the sort who sometimes walks away, even if it hurts me in the long run. It's a matter of principle.
Next time, ask for your property what you think it's worth. Not a price that you regard as a "deal" for the buyer. If you're not paying real estate commissions, BTW, asking less for your house is logical, since you don't have that big fee, and the buyer will want part of that. Otherwise, there's no benefit in a buyer buying a home w/o an agent to do the paperwork on his end.
But the buyer is right: the home is worth less, with a foundation repair, now.
Your home value has now decreased because of the foundation problem. That's just a fact. So whether the buyer was getting the house below market value before or not, the house really has decreased in value since the original contract.
Investors are business people. They're hard nosed and drive a hard bargain. They don't love or even like your house. It's just a way to earn some $$$.
Just my personal feelings, if it were me: I would be tempted to walk away from that buyer, since I live in a good selling area and have a decent house, IF I can take the time to wait for another buyer (consider the property taxes and other expenses you'll be paying in the interim...if you pay $1,000 for holding the property for two more months, and then find a buyer who will pay what this current buyer is paying...you make $1,000 less.) But I would be so disgusted with the buyer, on a personal level, that I'm the sort who sometimes walks away, even if it hurts me in the long run. It's a matter of principle.
Next time, ask for your property what you think it's worth. Not a price that you regard as a "deal" for the buyer. If you're not paying real estate commissions, BTW, asking less for your house is logical, since you don't have that big fee, and the buyer will want part of that. Otherwise, there's no benefit in a buyer buying a home w/o an agent to do the paperwork on his end.
But the buyer is right: the home is worth less, with a foundation repair, now.
Thanks for your quick response.
And you are right. It makes logical sense but like you, I am very disgusted by this buyer right now. Threatening to walk away from our home if we don't drop another $1,000 is ridiculous. I have to seriously call bs. They would have to find another home and agree to 15 - 25k more for a comparable home in our area which is hard to find. They'd have to put up another option fee and pay for another inspection and hope for the best on an unknown home. If they are stupid enough to do that over $1,000, so be it.
We live in TX on expansive clay soil. Every foundation settles here. Even the foundation company came in and thought nothing of our home until they checked the elevation differences. They said our home needed very minor work.
I'm going to stick to my guns just off principle. They won't bully me in a sellers market. What gets me is after their inspection, they didn't mention price. They simply wanted the work done. We agreed to the work and then they wanted to drop the price another $2k. Threatened to terminate but reconsidered and just wanted $1k off and now again threatening to terminate.
I'm calling bs. We aren't in a rush to leave. The schools are great. The area is great.
Tell them to take a hike. Go back on the market and find another buyer. I suggest that you disclose the foundation issue to CYA.
If you pay to fix the foundation issue, after it is fixed, the house does not have reduced value. Buyer does not get the foundation fixed plus more money off.
Tell them to take a hike. Go back on the market and find another buyer. I suggest that you disclose the foundation issue to CYA.
If you pay to fix the foundation issue, after it is fixed, the house does not have reduced value. Buyer does not get the foundation fixed plus more money off.
Exactly what I was thinking! Forgot to mention: We agreed to $187k with them. The lowest estimate for our home I saw was ReMax $186,400. Another site had a range from $185k - $195k. Zillow zestimate said its worth $197k.
A few things: corner lots are not as desirable as you seem to think they are. People don't want to deal with all of the extra sidewalks and the house is "exposed" on two sides. Even if there is no one behind you, you have less privacy on a corner than a house in the center of a block with no one behind them.
Zillow estimates are worth what you pay for them--ZERO.
It varies by market, but in most locations an offer at 92.4% is NOT a low ball or insulting offer. Prior to inspections you had an offer for 96% of your list price. Not too bad. There are also different types of seller's markets. In some seller's market people get over list. In other they get quick offers at a percentage of list price. What is the typical list to sales ratio in your area?
Every smart buyer will want the foundation repaired. Get over that issue now. It's irrelevant if it's common in your area. It's an issue with the house. If not corrected, it will worsen over time.
I think your "disgust" is a bit unwarranted and indicates you are too emotionally involved with the sale of your home. Given the time of year it will cost you time and money to put it back on the market now.
BTW--why did we need to know the nationality of the buyers? Pretty unimportant.
A few things: corner lots are not as desirable as you seem to think they are. People don't want to deal with all of the extra sidewalks and the house is "exposed" on two sides. Even if there is no one behind you, you have less privacy on a corner than a house in the center of a block with no one behind them.
Zillow estimates are worth what you pay for them--ZERO.
It varies by market, but in most locations an offer at 92.4% is NOT a low ball or insulting offer. Prior to inspections you had an offer for 96% of your list price. Not too bad. There are also different types of seller's markets. In some seller's market people get over list. In other they get quick offers at a percentage of list price. What is the typical list to sales ratio in your area?
Every smart buyer will want the foundation repaired. Get over that issue now. It's irrelevant if it's common in your area. It's an issue with the house. If not corrected, it will worsen over time.
I think your "disgust" is a bit unwarranted and indicates you are too emotionally involved with the sale of your home. Given the time of year it will cost you time and money to put it back on the market now.
BTW--why did we need to know the nationality of the buyers? Pretty unimportant.
My thoughts EXACTLY. The seller is (understandably) emotional while the buyers are just doing business. They likely don't give a rip if they don't get this house. They certainly don't give a rip if you think they are being "bullies".
Their nationality IS irrelevant, but obviously the OP believes in the oft-repeated cultural (racist) remarks surrounding negotiating with those of Indian and Pakistani descent.
I know Zillow estimates are worth nothing but I thought I'd include them along with others.
I know the foundation will have to be repaired. I'm not upset about that. I never fought against that repair request and never would. The disgust comes from their bullish negotiating tactics. Dropping the price wasn't a concern until after we agreed to their repair request. Almost as if to say, "That was too easy, lets get them for some more." Then to threaten to terminate the contract over $2k. Our response was, "Okay, terminate." Then to come back and say, okay, okay, what about 1k off? That's completely ridiculous man. Honestly, we accepted $187 from them but would've been much more comfortable taking $188.5. My thought process was $1.5k isn't worth the hassle since I got them on the hook for 187k. This time around, I refuse to budge.
I mentioned nationality bc many people I've talked to have concluded that many investors, particularly ones of Indian and Pakastani descent, are very aggressive, offensive, rude and tight wads when it comes to negotiating. I didn't come to that conclusion, that's the conclusion that many people I know come to after dealing with these people. A lot of realtors I know said the same thing.
Regardless... I understand what JKgourmet and Rrah are saying but do you guys really think they will back out over us not taking $1k off.
Lets not forget: I agreed to fix the minor foundation issue and other cosmetic repairs. They won't find an comparable house (corner lot or not) for even $10k more than what they are getting with us. They already put $400 into our home through inspection and option fees.
If they are willing to throw away $400 bc of $1,000 on a home they won't find unless they spend another 15k, they don't seem like investors to me. Pretty foolish. I'm not giving my location away but it's one of the hottest areas in the entire state of TX. And TX is where everyone is moving to. Four out of the top 10 metros with the most people moving to them are in TX.
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