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I find it hard to believe that people would not negotiate a price for a home.
If someone offers 10-15% reduction from the asking price, it is basically seeing how bad the seller wants to buy the home. Everyone negotiates prices when they buy a house. To say that they don't is pretty dumb.
This totally depends on the person selling the home and how they are selling (knowledgeable agent, bad agent, or no agent at all). When my wife and I were selling our first home we got an offer than was about %12 less than the list price which we had just reduced by $5k since we were going back on the market after an ordeal (that's another story). I laughed and kept drinking my beer when the realtor called to tell me. I wasn't even going to counter but my agent told me I should give it a try and it ultimately ended up in a sale. The point is that if my agent hadn't pushed me I wouldn't have countered at all because the initial offer was absurd.
Thats part of an Agent's job. To keep personal feelings out of the negotiating process. Sellers tend to get emotional and therefore if an offer is low, they become personally offended and want to just toss it. Its the Agent's job to make the seller understand that the buyer is just attempting to get a "deal" or that the buyer's agent has not educated the buyer as to what is happening in THIS neighborhood and in THIS market.
Just recently had a situation where my clients found the house they wanted to buy.
I called listing agent and was told that another offer was on table and had been on table for almost a month!
Problem was buyer made a low offer and seller and buyer countered back and forth. Buyer was waiting to see how desperate seller got. Seller was waiting for another buyer!
My clients really wanted the house, it was priced right (I checked comps) and we offered full price (althought I hated it more than they did) and we "stole" the house from the first buyers.
Be aware that while you are negotiating, another offer CAN come in and those buyers can swipe the house right out from under you!
Right, and I am glad he talked me into the counter. Just for the record though, I didn't get emotional or feel offended, I just thought the prospective buyers might not be serious and possibly a waste of time. The reduced asking price was my bottom line and I would have kept the house and rented it out to college students before selling any lower. Looking back, they were just putting out a feeler to see if we'd bite. It so happens that I wasn't budging, so we eventually got the asking price out of them. Well, we conceded a home warranty and the mirror above the fireplace!
About 15 years ago, I listed my own house for sale. We got a very lowball offer (buyers just "testing"). You are right tlh1005! Hubby was furious. Said "throw it away" tell them to "stick it". Some sellers ARE emotional! I told him we'll counter with FULL PRICE less $500. We ended up going back and forth and got what we wanted, the buyers got what they wanted and we all lived happily ever after!!!
The first one, I wound up going back and forth and eventually signing a contract. While the sale did close, it almost didn't because the buyer's financing fell through due to him using someone else's social security number for a few years when he first came to this country. He had to go to a subprime lender and "magically" came up with 20% down even though he had been crying about how he couldn't possibly afford my house at the price I wanted. I also found out later that at the open house he had offered my agent a cash "bribe" if she could get me to sell at the ridiculously low initial offer.
The second time was when my house had been on the market all of ten days (with a blizzard the first weekend!). I did counter and eventually verbally agreed on a price ~$6K under my listing price with a relatively short close (their initial offer was like $20K under or something). When the contract came in, they moved the close date back, and added in that I needed to pay for a home warranty. Right around the same time, I recieved another offer $1K *over* the listing price, which waived both the inspection and appraisal contingencies (they knew I had 1 offer in hand). If the first buyers hadn't changed the closing date and added the home inspection bit in, I would have felt obligated to take their lower offer because I had agreed. As it was, I felt absolutely no guilt in taking the 2nd offer, and getting an extra $7K for the house.
I guess I'm just very leery of buyers who low-ball after these lovely experiences. I can't say with 100% certainty I wouldn't counter a really low offer when I sell my current house - but I'd probably need some real convincing!
Speaking as someone who will be in the market for a house in Cary soon, if I find a house I like that I can afford, I doubt I'd be doing much negotiating. Of course, I'll be using a buyer's agent, who will tell me if the house price is fair. If it's a fair price -- and I WANT the house -- I'm not going to haggle and risk losing the house.
Speaking as someone who will be in the market for a house in Cary soon, if I find a house I like that I can afford, I doubt I'd be doing much negotiating. Of course, I'll be using a buyer's agent, who will tell me if the house price is fair. If it's a fair price -- and I WANT the house -- I'm not going to haggle and risk losing the house.
Your buyer's agent will probably advise you to offer 2% below - I know mine did. I went ahead with that, but in the end went full price because there was another offer on the table.
On the other hand, I will *definitely* offer full price if I come across the right house in Cary next year (large lot, mature trees, low $200's). Those houses sell way too quick to mess around!
Your buyer's agent will probably advise you to offer 2% below - I know mine did. I went ahead with that, but in the end went full price because there was another offer on the table.
On the other hand, I will *definitely* offer full price if I come across the right house in Cary next year (large lot, mature trees, low $200's). Those houses sell way too quick to mess around!
The two percent is typical, with good comps.
In many tract-built neighborhoods with repetitive use of plans, the Listing Agent and the Buyer's Agent are using the same comps and come to the similar value conclusions. Ergo the tight spread on list price vs. sale price.
If you get into a rural or unique area, with few directly compable properties nearby, then pricing turns into an art and can be more wide open. It is always reasonable to ask the Listing agent what they used for comps.
Evne the appraiser must sometimes make a leap of faith to offer an opinion.
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