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My hubby, who is a Harvard-trained negotiator, thinks that our buyers agent (a woman) has mishandled negotiations with the sellers/agent of a house we are trying to buy. I completely disagree. I need your opinions.
About 7 mths ago we made an offer on a house. List price was 250,000; our offer was for 175,000. There were no sold comps at the time but we were confident this house was worth closer to 175 than 250. The sellers would not budge from 230 so negotiations ended. Fast fwd 7 mths later. In the last month, 3 comparable houses near the house we like have sold for 150k. So obviously this house is worth somewhere around 150-175. So last week we had our buyers agent call the listing agent of the house we want, present her with the new comps, and make our case. ACCORDING TO OUR AGENT, the sellers told the listing agent, who told our agent: "thanks but no thanks; don't even bother putting the offer in writing."
I say that these people are just delusional idiots who are obviously not motivated to sell; my husband says our agent is not getting the deal done, and that we should fire her. He also has conspiracy theories like our agent wants us to buy more expensive (not this house) so she can get a bigger commission so she is not aggressively pushing this deal. And then he throws in the whole "if it were a male agent, this deal would have been done months ago. we are more aggressive in business than women."
I guess my hubby thinks that a penis (sorry but I am mad) is all it takes to get these people to sell their house for 175,000 dollars.
My hubby, who is a Harvard-trained negotiator, thinks that our buyers agent (a woman) has mishandled negotiations with the sellers/agent of a house we are trying to buy. I completely disagree. I need your opinions.
About 7 mths ago we made an offer on a house. List price was 250,000; our offer was for 175,000. There were no sold comps at the time but we were confident this house was worth closer to 175 than 250. The sellers would not budge from 230 so negotiations ended. Fast fwd 7 mths later. In the last month, 3 comparable houses near the house we like have sold for 150k. So obviously this house is worth somewhere around 150-175. So last week we had our buyers agent call the listing agent of the house we want, present her with the new comps, and make our case. ACCORDING TO OUR AGENT, the sellers told the listing agent, who told our agent: "thanks but no thanks; don't even bother putting the offer in writing."
I say that these people are just delusional idiots who are obviously not motivated to sell; my husband says our agent is not getting the deal done, and that we should fire her. He also has conspiracy theories like our agent wants us to buy more expensive (not this house) so she can get a bigger commission so she is not aggressively pushing this deal. And then he throws in the whole "if it were a male agent, this deal would have been done months ago. we are more aggressive in business than women."
I guess my hubby thinks that a penis (sorry but I am mad) is all it takes to get these people to sell their house for 175,000 dollars.
Divorce papers???
IMO, you have a Seller who is not desperate to sell. Most likely the seller won't budge from $230 because they are just going to let it sit till they get their price. Even if your agent was a low down scoundrel, the commission difference between $175 and $275 isn't enough to matter and any agent would much rather get the deal done quick and off to the next pork chop.
I say keep your agent and send you Harvard trained hubby my way. I'll take him off your hands.
Firstly I have to advise you that the leading cause of financial distress is divorce, so I'd rule that out right off the bat.
Secondly the only negotiations when sexual organs are useful generally don't involve real estate, so I stongly advise hubby to keep his pants on and zipped up. For every one's sake.
Ok with those out of the way I have to tell you that I am kinda old school when it comes to presenting offers. It is not that I hate email or cell phones, it is just that when you are working a deal that involves hundreds of thousands of dollars, most it in the form of long term debt .a nice face to face meeting helps to sorta distill the essence of the matter. This ain't like ordering pizza or checking to see if your ebay bid for used golf balls got accepting. THIS IS THE REAL DEAL...
I know lots of agents don't feel that way, and some even think I must be hopelessly out of touch when I open an envelope with a printed contract, a signed check for $10,000.00 in earnest money and slide this across a desk, but man I think it it part of the scene that ought to never go away.
I suspect your husband believes that a rational exposition of the facts surrounding the closing prices of recent comparable properties will have the effect of "lighting a bulb over the buyers heads". It might. Or not. You really can't know. If they do not see this info there is no way to know, so I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU to press your agent into arranging a meeting with the other agent and the buyers (you and hubby could be at the table, or in an adjacent room, up to the agents to some extent) and give it a whirl. Worst that happens is they have something to laugh about as they sit. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. Prices are not going to JUMP from $175K to $230K any time soon... JUST WON'T HAPPEN!
Another possibility is that the sellers will crack a bit. Let on that what they REALLY NEED is more like $190. In the grand scheme of things I would think that someone that paid for classes at Harvard might be able to scratch together an extra $15K or so to get a place that you sorta do wanna live in, but hey if you can't you can't and then you can at least say you tried.
The final, and most remote possibility is that the sellers see the wisdom that you have imparted on them. Joyously come to their senses. Accept your offer, shower you with rose petal and champagne and dance from the meeting to closing the happiest people even to give up $55,000... Yeah, that COULD happen.
Oh btw, I like to negotiate. I kinda think I am pretty good at it. And I can tell you that of all the other agents that "got a better deal than I thought possible" have been women. It ain't about aggressiveness, it is about reading
Last edited by chet everett; 05-22-2009 at 03:12 PM..
Perhaps the sellers owe too much to sell anywhere close to comps and lack the means to make up the difference at closing. Keep your agent, tell your husband to forget about this house.
My hubby, who is a Harvard-trained negotiator, thinks that our buyers agent (a woman) has mishandled negotiations with the sellers/agent of a house we are trying to buy. I completely disagree. I need your opinions.
About 7 mths ago we made an offer on a house. List price was 250,000; our offer was for 175,000. There were no sold comps at the time but we were confident this house was worth closer to 175 than 250. The sellers would not budge from 230 so negotiations ended. Fast fwd 7 mths later. In the last month, 3 comparable houses near the house we like have sold for 150k. So obviously this house is worth somewhere around 150-175. So last week we had our buyers agent call the listing agent of the house we want, present her with the new comps, and make our case. ACCORDING TO OUR AGENT, the sellers told the listing agent, who told our agent: "thanks but no thanks; don't even bother putting the offer in writing."
I say that these people are just delusional idiots who are obviously not motivated to sell; my husband says our agent is not getting the deal done, and that we should fire her. He also has conspiracy theories like our agent wants us to buy more expensive (not this house) so she can get a bigger commission so she is not aggressively pushing this deal. And then he throws in the whole "if it were a male agent, this deal would have been done months ago. we are more aggressive in business than women."
I guess my hubby thinks that a penis (sorry but I am mad) is all it takes to get these people to sell their house for 175,000 dollars.
Divorce papers???
I have no knowledge of the negotiation skills of your agent. I'm not sure what your hubby thinks there is to push. The sellers live in the house and it is priced where they want to price it. You can't force people to sell a home for a price they don't want to sell it for. I have had buyer's agents do the same with low offers, and my sellers have stated 100% of the time EXACTLY that this listing agent relayed to your agent, "don't bother." You can ask your agent to present your offer and your case, but you CANNOT force people to live in reality.
Who knows, if it were a male agent making demands and getting all aggressive you may get yourself completely taken off the table. Sellers don't like hardball tactics nor do they typically respond positively to it.
Why are the sellers selling? What happens if they do not sell? What did they pay and when? Is there a second mortgage? Perhaps they already prematurely spent their equity.......and would need to write a check at the closing table.
My market has plenty of serial sellers. These are properties that have been for sale, for years, at some goofy price or another. They serve a purpose. They sell the competition.
Just curious.....if comparable homes have sold for $150K, why didn't you make an offer on one of them?
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