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We have been looking at homes for about a month now. I couldn't even tell you how many because there have been a LOT. This has not been a fun process. Our finance company suggested a realtor to us. Previously to the suggestion, we had set up a showing and the finance company said to bring the realtor rather than using the sellers. The home was a forclosed home that had been on the market for 6 months. LP was low for the home and the neighborhood, the main floor of the house did not appear to need any work other than removing some carpet but the basement had water damage. Dry wall had been torn off from the floor to half way up the wall. This was a finished basement that included a family room, a bathroom, a bedroom and the laundry room. We were still interested since the LP was cheap but after getting rough estimates for just the water damages and to prevent it from occuring again (min 30k) we opted to look at other homes. We were going to be using the 203k loan for the rehab because of using FHA.
The realtor was unresponsive to phone calls and emails. Any questions we asked her, we felt as though she was advising for herself and not us and giving us a lot of improper info regarding the 203k program.
We switched realtors and opted against the 203k after having a better understanding of the pros and mainly the cons (for us) of the program. Our new realtor has been great. She is always available to show homes within a couple days at most and she always responds ASAP.
I know I'm rambling... this has just been a nightmare. I don't think we knew what we were getting in to.
This brings me to now. We found a home that we loved. It is not a forecloser or a short sale and we are using RD for the loan. The house has been on the market for a year only dropping it's price 2k during that time. We submitted an offer of 110k yesterday. The asking price was 129k. It is a 2bdrm, 2 bthrm home on a few acres. I have been doing tons of research in addition to info my realtor has been able to provide. I found a lot of info on a certain site and my realtor said it is not always accurate. I found that the house was purchased end of 09 for 78k and that it has been on the market for the last year. It is obvious when looking at the house that it has been recently updated so I am sure they sunk money in it. It's not a large house, only 1500sf or so. The info my realtor found was nothing about it being purchased at such a low amount and she was told that the owners bought it and while doing the updats they realized it was too far of a drive to the city every day so they put it back on the market.
The offer we submitted at 6pm yesterday (Sat) had a 24 hr response time or the offer was null. So we waitied anxiously all day and 6 came and went. My realtor attempted to contact their realtor by email and phone with no response. Then at 7:30 she received a text from the sellers realtor stating the owners are out of town. No more information was given. She replied asking when they would be back and what kind of extension will they need but no response. So now I am scared that maybe the offer was too low. My realtor says don't worry, if they were going to reject they wouldn't have bothered to say they were out of town. Maybe they are waiting to see if thy will get other offers.
Is the 24hr response time usually kept? Can anyone provide info on how long it took for you to get a response on your offer? Or sellers, how long did it take you to give a response? and why?
I'm really sorry for all the rambling. There are so many unknowns in the process. I would have thought if the house had been on the market for a year, we would have at least recieved a counter. ugh... I'm ready to give up already.
It sounds like you have a good Realtor, and is giving you good advice. Don't over think it, you can't control what the other side will or won't do, and it's anyone's guess as to what is really going on. Let your agent deal with it.
Sounds like it may not appraise. Lately, buying a 70K house and putting 40K into it may not even give you 100K at appraisal time--look for an REO in good condition.
It sounds like you have a good Realtor, and is giving you good advice. Don't over think it, you can't control what the other side will or won't do, and it's anyone's guess as to what is really going on. Let your agent deal with it.
Sounds like it may not appraise. Lately, buying a 70K house and putting 40K into it may not even give you 100K at appraisal time--look for an REO in good condition.
I have to agree to a certain extent: of course, in my position, I will have to say it may or may not appraise out. However; having two non-toxic sales and two toxic sales will give interesting market readings.
Cost doesn't equal value (but the cost approach can reflect value in some cases). If the owners are trying to capitalize on a lower effective age, then they may be surprised that obsolescence may have an adverse affect.
And, I hope the Appraiser will use at least one non-toxic sales if sales are lacking, and will make the appropriate time adjustment.
To the original poster:
Not just condition, but the effective age (a property economic element), will be analyzed. Their efforts to update may or may not prove to diminish value.
Be sure not to pay over market value, no matter what the contract price indicates.
The house that we bid on was not the first house. It is move in ready, pending the inspection.
We got the call from our realtor this morning. She said thet the sellers realtor spoke as though they were going to reject our offer but said the realtor did not come out and say that. Seller is supposedly out of town until mid week. Sellers realtor said that he had shown the house to someone else a couple weeks ago (his client) and they had scheduled anothr showing but due to rainy weather, had cancelled and would be rescheduling. He thought that person may make an offer.
My realtor suggested we either up our offer or start looking at other houses. We really really love the house. It is in the exact town we want to live in and being such a rural area, there isn't a lot on the market.
My personal opinion is that th sellers realtor is trying to wait and see if a higher offer is made, which would be by his own client, giving him my realtors percent of the comission in addition to his own. It does not sound like he is being honest about the sellers being out of town. If so, wouldn't he of said that right away?
I don't know what to do. Like I said, we really want the place but I'm not sure doing business with the sellers realtor is worth it. I feel like he might not accept any of the offers and instead wait to see if he can get full comission.
My realtor suggested we either up our offer or start looking at other houses.
My personal opinion is that th sellers realtor is trying to wait and see if a higher offer is made, which would be by his own client, giving him my realtors percent of the comission in addition to his own. It does not sound like he is being honest about the sellers being out of town. If so, wouldn't he of said that right away?
I don't know what to do. Like I said, we really want the place but I'm not sure doing business with the sellers realtor is worth it.
Thoughts? Ideas?
Keep looking at other houses, it won't hurt and you always need a plan B in case your original house does not work out.
The Sellers agent may be doing exactly what the seller has instructed and stalling to see if they do get a better offer in. They may have told you one of those little white lies to keep you interested and active but stalling for time to see if the other person wants to make an offer.
You have no choice in dealing with the sellers agent. He is their agent and may be doing exactly what the seller tells him. Don't always blame the agent, sometimes he's just the messenger.
As I mentioned, keep working the offer but also keep looking for another house in case this one does not work.
The seller is not under any obligation to respond to your offer. Honestly, in my area a low offer with a short response time would probably be outright rejected because it can be perceived as being unreasonable. I'm not sure about your area.
I am sure the sellers are out of town. I know out here we just typically say that the seller needs more time to consider their options rather than lie about them being out of town. They are probably asking their agent to try and light a fire under the other buyer that was hovering. I did this exact thing this weekend and I have two offers for my seller now. That is the JOB of the listing agent. It isn't their job to get you what you want, it is their job to try and get the best terms for their client. Sounds like you have a good agent on your hands, so let them do what they need to do to represent you during the negotiation.
Buying and selling homes is STRESSFUL. In my opinion one of the biggest things that we agents do is manage things to reduce the stress level of our clients. If you have a great agent the stress is minimal, if you don't then the stress is huge.
My personal opinion is that th sellers realtor is trying to wait and see if a higher offer is made, which would be by his own client, giving him my realtors percent of the comission in addition to his own. It does not sound like he is being honest about the sellers being out of town. If so, wouldn't he of said that right away?
Sounds like that to me too, or at least nearly enough that it makes no difference. They are certainly putting you off, only question is intentionally or carelessly. I think you should just mark it up to being their negotiation strategy, at least until you get a refusal or a counter offer.
Be patient and follow your agent's price. And remember this: Any deal you love too much is a deal you are bound to come out second best. Keep looking at other houses and you may find one you like equally or even better.
I'm not in the business but my feeling is that if seller decides they want to accept your offer they can either have their agent call yours and request a new deadline or a repeat of the offer, or they can make you a counter offer either at your price or at a price they like better. No deal is dead until one of the parties has irrevocably moved on.
Keep looking. Let them worry about losing your deal.
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