Negotiating In DFW Market (Dallas, Irving: sale, real estate, attorney)

[Snowyy]

I am looking around Barksdale Elementary and Brinker Elementary area in Plano. Realtor.com has very few homes in my price range. I called for two and those were already under contract. I see some homes that are sitting on market for few months. Do Texans stick to their guns or offer price cuts after a while?

My family needs 4 bedrooms and 4 bath rooms. We need an extra bedroom downstairs for my dad's visits and an office for myself. A swiming pool would be a dream come true. We are not interested in new construction. How much should we expect to pay for a house in good condition with little or no work involved? Is there a way to find out average per square foot value and average difference between asking and sale prices? No, we don't want any thing to do with the realtors. Just don't trust them after my first home's purchase and sale.

[MckinneyOwnr]

My parents just sold their home and bought a new one. The house they sold was listed for $299k, they got $295k, but they also had to pay $4k to get the foundation fixed in the front. The price range from $250k to $350k is very tight, and is definitely a sellers market. Once you start to get past $400k though, the number of people that can afford a half million dollar home around here starts declining, and you are able to negotiate a better deal because of it.

My parents bought a home that was originally listed for $549k, no takers, was delisted, and put back up for sale 6 months later for $499k. Ended up paying $479k. On the tax rolls, house is appraised at $515k.

So, depending on what your budget is, that could affect what your offering price should be. But the days of coming in with lowball offers is over throughout DFW. You'll be doing very well if you can get 5% below list, unless the listing price is just way out of line with the comparables.

[tracenat]

We lost out on the first three homes we put offers on because we offered the asking price minus closing costs. We were beaten on all of them. I truly think we lucked out though. As first time home buyers, we did not need a 3,000 sq ft house in the suburbs

The house we finally got, and I'm so glad we got, we offered above asking and almost no closing costs. We added in the closing costs instead of small repairs that needed to be done after the inspection. No regrets. We didn't need the closing costs, but it was nice to have that little bit.

Best of luck!

[tracenat]

Oh, and ALL of the homes we put offers on had been on the market for less than a week. It was insanely frustrating, but great for those sellers!

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Snowyy

I am looking around Barksdale Elementary and Brinker Elementary area. Realtor.com has very few homes in my price range. I called for two and those were already under contract. I see some homes that are sitting on market for few months. Do Texans stick to their guns or offer price cuts after a while?

My family needs 4 bedrooms and 4 bath rooms. We need an extra bedroom downstairs for my dad's visits and an office for myself. A swiming pool would be a dream come true. We are not interested in new construction. How much should we expect to pay for a house in good condition with little or no work involved? Is there a way to find out average per square foot value and average difference between asking and sale prices? No, we don't want any thing to do with the realtors. Just don't trust them after my first home's purchase and sale.

Call a realtor.

[Snowyy]

Tracenat, Where did you buy?

[Snowyy]

BigDGeek, I mentioned that I do not want realtors. I want to try on my own first as my family is not moving till August. If you have something else to add then please do.

[stephwin]

I know you don’t want to hear it, but you need a realtor. Do you live in DFW now? All of the questions you are asking can be answered by a good realtor who will know the answers, and not a forum of people who will just tell you it depends on this, that, or the other. How do you expect to get into houses to see them if you don’t have a realtor? How do you expect to get comps? I know not all realtors are good, but there are good ones out there and I think they are invaluable, especially if you are not familiar with the area or don’t live here right now.


Not that my house buying experience will be of any use to you since it was in 2009 and a completely different market, but we originally offered 5% below asking and asked for closing costs. They came back at 2% below asking and closing costs. We finally settled on 3% below asking with closing costs included.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Snowyy

BigDGeek, I mentioned that I do not want realtors. I want to try on my own first as my family is not moving till August. If you have something else to add then please do.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. You need a good realtor.

[katefrisco]

Not to sound like a parrot, I just posted the other day a question about a rental home we are putting on the market in the M Streets. Neighbors found out that it was going on the market. They had a friend who had been looking and my mother has received a full price offer on the home. It has not even hit the market yet...and that is without a Realtor. Things are moving much faster now.
I wish you well on your search. The area that you are looking at Barksdale area I have friends who live there and they love it. Their children attend Barksdale.
Good luck and welcome to Texas!