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Ok well I had written a long post about the offer we got and how we were lowballed and I was asking for advice. But they accepted our counter offer and we are Sold!! 3 weeks is all it took!!
We close in like 23 days though so we are gonna be in rough shape trying to find another house in time. If we do rent, what would everyone suggest? Use PODS and store most of our stuff and then rent an apt or something for a month or two?? We do have 2 dogs and 3 cats though so it could be tough. Any advice would be great.
Congrats on the offer! Please, however, don't let what you paid factor in to what you accept. Accept what you and your agent feel is fair market value, and forget 100% what you paid for the house. That's an emotional instinct based on pride and competitiveness (and we all do it) but it should have no bearing on what the house is worth today.
Besides, "breaking even" isn't really breaking even. There are so many factors going into determining how much money you have in the house (upkeep, improvements) and also how much it's saved you (versus renting, tax deductions, etc) that really, the amount you paid for it is closer to arbitrary than you think.
Now, if your realtor feels that your asking price is fair market value and this offer is well below what is fair, then by all means go for more if you feel it's deserved...but base that on fair market value today, not based on what you paid for the home!
It is impossilble to make a realistic judgment of your situation without a lot more facts than you would feel comfortable sharing here.
Suffice it to say that what you paid for your home and how much you put into it since are completely irrevalant to what it is worth today. You might have paid too much, might have spent more than what you added was worth, or the economy may have slid enough in your area that even if you got a bargain and were frugal and made super-wise choices the slid might have wiped out those additions. You could have a house worth more than you originally paid or a house worth much less even with the additions.
You need to objectively compare your house and it's features (warts and all) with other houses in your area, the more similar the better. This will provide you with a basis for your competition. If most of the homes that are similar to yours in similar neighborhoods with similar pluses and minuses are priced lower, then you are overpriced and can expect to sell at a lower price... If your competetion is priced higher, then you should stick to your guns and demand your price since you are already bargain priced.
The question boils down to How are you priced relative to your competetion? If you are lower, then stick it out. If you are the same or higher, then you should not expect to see a better offer and will likely be hurt if the economy slides further downhill. I, personally, do not expect to see any global rebounds in the housing market this year. Local conditions will be variable and the odd exception will occur. The odds are great it will not be your house or mine that benefit from such a freak occurance however.
Good luck and crunch those numbers before making any decisions.
My two cents. Any offer is a good offer. Don't be offended by the lowball offer. Every house gets a low one. The important fact is that the buyer is seriously interested. If you have your home priced right for this market and have a good agent on your side, you should be able to negotiate this out and have your home sold. I would definately seek the advice of your agent first, then check back on this forum for a little input.
Thanks for the advice everyone. We ended up getting a pretty good deal. They offered us 13k less than what we asked and we ended up only 3k less than what we asked and that is exactly where I was hoping to end up when we put the house on the market.
The first couple of posters made very good points and my mind was telling me the same thing. My heart was just telling me that I would feel gipped if I didn't get the price we wanted. But everything looks like it will work out.
I am stoked!! There are two other homes on our street that have been out there on the market for months and ours was only up with pictures for about 10 days. I guess my family has the golden touch.
We sold my moms house in MD in 1 day right before the bubble burst in 2006. My brother sold his condo in a few weeks after the bubble had burst and now we sell our house quickly. Time to go out to a celebratory dinner! Im thinking Ruths Chris, lol!
Our house was listed for 200k. NE Raleigh a few miles south of Rolesville. 4 br, 2.5 bathrooms and about 2200 sq ft. In a very cookie cutter neighborhood with small yards which is why we are looking to move(plus my wife works in Cary so a pretty long commute). We are hoping to start a family soon and we are thinking its easier to move without a baby/toddler running around. 3 cats/2 dogs is enough hassle.
Time for a celebratory dinner. I'm thinking steak
Good luck to anyone else who is out there trying to sell their home.
I think ya need showings to get even a lowball offer, that still how the game goes?!?!?
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