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The only other thing that might work - and I stress "might" - is to send a heartfelt letter to the seller with your offer stating how much you love the house, what feels "right" about it, how hard you've looked, talk about raising your children in the house, and leave out ANY negative. It has worked in some cases where sellers were so attached to their property that they wanted someone to love it as much as they have.
I think this is a good idea. I am in a selling situation and never once has my broker indicated how the buyer feels about my house. When you find a house that is the absolute best you have ever lived in (and I've lived all over the country in apts. and houses being in the military) bar none, it is very hard to turn it over to someone else. When I bought my present house, I got to meet the seller face to face and thru that, could assess their attachment was equal to mine and the transition went smoothly.
The house needs a new furnace, new windows....It is however the nicest lot in the n'hood and is completely different than the 3br ranches that surround it. On one hand I think he doesnt want to sell (clearly) on the other hand he keeps making the ill informed aesthetic "upgrades" that the realtors tell him to, which makes me think he does want to sell.
We looked at a home, as a potential comp to ours just before we put ours the market, that was similar to this. It was overpriced--bought at the top of the market--and needed a new roof, but was a great house. It had already been on the market for 7 months. (A dead giveway here, anyway, that something was wrong.) He did what realtors told him to do but he would not lower his price enough for anyone to make a serious offer. Some owners just can't part with their dreams; you should probably look elsewhere.
He has a mortgage from 2003 for $175 and a mtg from 2006 for $183 (i assume this is the second he took out to build the new house, the 2003 mtg shows no release). So spitballing he owes $270.
Interest rates were higher back then. I'm thinking 7% loan for 2003, 6% loan for 2006, so I estimate he owes $306k
Make an offer and see what happens. You are overthinking this because, irrespective of your thoughts, the only thing that matters is the seller's response to your offer.
I can offer a story of what happened to us in a similar situation years ago. The house we wanted was on the market for over a year, priced at $375,000, which was about what remodeled houses in the neighborhood were selling for.
The house was way overpriced. The house was vacant, a divorce sale. Everything needed to be done: baths, kitchen, new doors, exterior siding, landscaping, floors....I mean everything. but, it was in a beautiful neighborhood and a prewar colonial with all the details intact. We offered the sellers our preapproved mortgage paperwork, employment histories, etc to show we were serious and $275,000. The owners didn't even counter our offer. just said no... bye, bye. We told our broker to let us know if they ever changed their minds and continued to look for other houses.
About four months later our broker got a call from the listing broker asking if we were still interested in the house because no other offers had been made. We closed on this home one month after that call for $280,000, a good deal for all involved. Sometimes patience pays off.
Yep, offer what you think the house is worth, if he is just insulted--move on to the next house-- if not maybe you can negotiate.
I would say have a friend make the insulting offer and then you come in at a higher price
I can't tell how many times I was the one coming in with a realistic offer only to have someone come in slightly higher and prevail...
They were able to take out their frustration on me and then feel justified by accepting a thousand or more from the next guy.
It has happened going into probate and on a property a Broker showed me... the owner actually sold for less than my offer because he sold it to someone without paying a commission.
At the time the property was listed... the owner told the Broker he would only list if the Broker agreed the owner could sell to a list of 3 people that had expressed interest in the home prior to being listed.
The neighbor ended up buying it even though my offer was several thousand more because my offer meant a commission was due.
If you can tolerate buying the house in the condition it's currently in, and can buy it for what you want to pay for it, then do so; those upgrades which the seller has been told by those realtors to make to the house are pointless, since you have NO reason whatsoever to pay for them should he try to add what he paid for them to the price of the house.
If your comps are airtight and in line within the $240K-$280K ballpark, then go ahead and buy it, and fix it up with what you want as opposed to what the realtors are telling him.
I would say have a friend make the insulting offer and then you come in at a higher price
....
It might be tough to find a friend to do this, because they won't actually be able to close the deal IF the offer was accepted.
BUT...if the friend's offer/contract has "and/or assigns" added after the buyer's name on the contract....then IF the buyer gets an accepted offer, they can simply "assign" the contract to you and you become the buyer.
e.g. Buyer: John Smith and/or assigns.
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