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Is this normal? I think we have maybe ever done a total of two rounds before (with other deals). We are currently 18k apart on about a 200k home. We are the sellers. Apparently the buyer's agent is notorious for lowball offers, so much so that they warned him not to do that when he called them to show the house (he did anyway). We just submitted a third counter. The buyer's agent doesn't seem to care much about deadlines, either. He missed the last one by more than 24 hours. Is THAT normal? To me, that seems kind of unprofessional but maybe it a common practice? Weird.
We have had the house on the market about ten days with six showings plus an open house with a dozen people (the agents told me this afternoon that nobody even showed to the agency's other open houses this weekend).
I don't really mind the offer/counter-offer stuff all that much but I am wondering if it is unusual to have it go for, say, a half-dozen rounds
It was normal for us (when we bought)... I think it was the 3rd or 4th offer over the course of a few days that we made in response to the seller's counter offer that eventually got accepted when DH & I bought last year. We eventually agreed on $14,900 below asking.
I'm not sure about the deadlines though, sorry.
I wouldn't be too worried about all the back and forth though- as long as you're happy with the outcome in the end
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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It has become more normal in areas that are not selling well. Here we have have the opposite, bidding wars and they are selling for over asking. Many places the buyer's agent convinces that it's a buyers' market and hopes you will buckle. After only 10 days on the market I wouldn't be in a hurry, but your agent should know the market and be able to advise you.
Been dealing with a seller since September on a deal. I'm the buyer. Needless to say we're both patient. Had 5 rounds of official offers and counter offers. We're getting closer.
The number of rounds back and forth is not nearly as interesting as whether the OP will sell for less than they really want.
And, it takes two to tango, indeed. To bring it to a close, someone needs to say, "Hope you can do this. If not, well, I wish you luck!"
A few counters can happen. However, you need to be sure to tighten up the deadlines and the consequences. And then make a note in your daytimer for each step and just go on marketing. Somany days for home inspection appointment or contract shall be null and void at seller's option. Somany for inspection approval etc. (or they'll spend forever figuring out what they want fixed, running around getting estimates to do it themselves, talking to relatives over Sunday dinner, etc. etc.) Somany days for loan approval, settlement, move out or....whatever will happen. And if one is not met, back to regular marketing. Let the other side know if you feel like it but you have already let them know in the contract.
The buyer's agent is not low balling you. The agent does not invent offers out of thin air. He writes up the offer that the buyers tell him to write.
Ah...but some agents can be persuasive.
As to the OP's question, three rounds is not out of the ordinary. I once submitted 16 written offers over the course of 5 years--on a listed property! It was aggravating not to get one single counter-offer...or rejection. They just ignored all offers until the very end. Now that was extraordinary.
So end it. Tell them you are countering with your last and final offer.
I can't fathom what would motivate an agent to "persuade" their client to make a lowball offer.
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