Sellers assit? (Pittsburgh, Scranton, Pittston: selling a house, job market, buyer)

[okaydorothy]

This is the firs time we are selling a house in Pittsburgh and have come across sellers assist. We had an offer last night and while it was low, they also asked for 3% sellers assist. We didn't take it because including sellers assist, it would have been $40K less than asking.

Is sellers assist common here? We have bought 5 houses and never asked for a sellers assist and paid all the closing costs ourselves.

[szug-bot]

Dorothy, are you moving out of the area? Your posts from the past few years have me guessing that is the case.

[PGH423]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

This is the firs time we are selling a house in Pittsburgh and have come across sellers assist. We had an offer last night and while it was low, they also asked for 3% sellers assist. We didn't take it because including sellers assist, it would have been $40K less than asking.

Is sellers assist common here? We have bought 5 houses and never asked for a sellers assist and paid all the closing costs ourselves.

I get the impression from my realtor that if the inspection reveals significant issues, a seller's assist is common.

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

Dorothy, are you moving out of the area? Your posts from the past few years have me guessing that is the case.

We are moving to the Poconos. The kids will be in college this year and unfortunately Pittsburgh wasn't very job friendly to us. We will be back as our kids will be going to college here.

[sky329]

Sellers assist is common if you want to sell the house enough

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

We are moving to the Poconos. The kids will be in college this year and unfortunately Pittsburgh wasn't very job friendly to us. We will be back as our kids will be going to college here.

I'm sorry to hear that, but I wish you well in the Poconos in your future endeavors! I've appreciated your contributions to the Pittsburgh and NEPA sub-forums for years! I will say that in the nearly a decade I've been removed from the Scranton Area there seems to have been a lot of positive progress on social equity and economic development fronts there.

The local job market (and dating market) haven't been very kind to me, either, but I love Pittsburgh enough that I want to continue to make a go of it here while being underemployed and alone in hopes that someday life will improve.

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I'm sorry to hear that, but I wish you well in the Poconos in your future endeavors! I've appreciated your contributions to the Pittsburgh and NEPA sub-forums for years! I will say that in the nearly a decade I've been removed from the Scranton Area there seems to have been a lot of positive progress on social equity and economic development fronts there.

The local job market (and dating market) haven't been very kind to me, either, but I love Pittsburgh enough that I want to continue to make a go of it here while being underemployed and alone in hopes that someday life will improve.

Thank you. I do wish you well also. Pittston seems to be improving and seems to have a lot of distribution centers. My hubby and I are hoping to do team driving across the states for some company in Pittston/Scranton area. It will be commutable from lake Ariel where we will be based. We feel sad that it didn't work out for us in Pittsburgh, but happy that the kids have thrived and found a place they like.
You have drive and you will succeed here.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by PGH423

I get the impression from my realtor that if the inspection reveals significant issues, a seller's assist is common.

This is what happened with us. The buyer's inspector had concerns about a couple of things and we offered to discount the price OR add on seller's assist. The buyer chose seller's assist. Most people would rather cut their closing costs by a few thousand than cut their monthly payment by like $15.

I think it's pretty common. I both bought and sold my house with seller's assist.

You do have to be careful to make sure the buyer's bank will allow it. We actually got a few hundred cut off of the assist at the last minute because the amount we offered was slightly more than their bank permitted.

[Lost_In_Translation]

I had sellers assist when I bought my home in Pittsburgh to keep my cash costs down. Take the lowest price you’re willing to accept, add back the amount of sellers assist you’re willing to provide into the purchase and then offer that. Sellers assist is really just a way to roll cash costs back into the mortgage.

[JayDiFiore]

Just my two cents. I wouldn't entertain an offer including seller's assist unless they were making an offer at the list price.

Usually it's purely about liquidity.

We bought our house a few years ago, and it needed a new kitchen, bathroom, and deck repair. We came in a few thousand OVER asking, but then asked for seller's assist so that we would have cash on hand to make the necessary updates and repairs. When all the math was said and done, our offer over asking plus seller's assist came out to an offer that was ACTUALLY about 4% under asking, which isn't uncommon in a "normal" sale.

Other times, it may be as simple as not having cash on hand for closing costs.