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Sometimes sellers and their agents just ask a higher price figuring you can "negotiate". I almost bought a lovely 2 bedroom 2 bath townhome in my area 3 years ago. It was perfect for me and I loved it. However I was doing a VA loan and the price the seller was asking was over the appraisal and I didn't have extra cash to pay the difference. My agent tried to talk her down but she wouldn't budge. Meanwhile 3 months later when it was still on the market she finally sold it FOR THE APPRAISAL PRICE!
Made me so bad - my mortgage, taxes, insurance & HOA fees would have been around $600 - I'm renting a 2 bedroom for $900. :-(
Yeah, even if you qualify for a VA loan, it's wise to consider having some cash to bring to the table to close the deal. Because you've clearly shelled out several thousand dollars extra in rent at this point. Get out there and see if you can find another place to buy.
Exactly. He's comparing the price of his perfect house to the price of the comps. If it's really the same value as the comps then why not buy one of those? I suspect the seller has put more into his home and it's nicer than the comps. Obviously something is better about the seller's house, or the OP wouldn't be so in love with it.
Your right, the house is nicer than the comps that is why I am offering an amount above the comps to compensate. The issue is that the sellers price per sq ft is at a record high for the neighborhood. In fact some of the comps are lowering as houses in the same square footage are lowering their price due to no sale.
I'm not trying to low ball these sellers in any way, I'm doing my best to offer a premium but I refuse to pay an over inflated value...just find it annoying that it is inevitable that a more realistic price is to come for these sellers or they will not sell at all, it's just a waste of time to sit and deal with these price drops. They have already lowered once and more will be to come unless they wake up.
My thought is someone does not put their house on the market unless there is a desire to sell ultimately.
Your right, the house is nicer than the comps that is why I am offering an amount above the comps to compensate. The issue is that the sellers price per sq ft is at a record high for the neighborhood. In fact some of the comps are lowering as houses in the same square footage are lowering their price due to no sale.
I'm not trying to low ball these sellers in any way, I'm doing my best to offer a premium but I refuse to pay an over inflated value...just find it annoying that it is inevitable that a more realistic price is to come for these sellers or they will not sell at all, it's just a waste of time to sit and deal with these price drops. They have already lowered once and more will be to come unless they wake up.
My thought is someone does not put their house on the market unless there is a desire to sell ultimately.
Actually, its pretty common that sellers will list their home for sale but not really want to sell. Top sign that they're not serious? They increase the price after it's sat on the market.
The magical term for homes like this is overimproved. Have you considered buying another property and upgrading it?
Also, if you need to use financing,you're probably going to need to bring cash to the table to close the deal.
OP, I can see your dilemma. You feel like the house was put on the market as a tease. At this point your best bet is to get your buyer's agent to convince the seller's agent of the true value of the home. (Your input on this should be minimal since there will be emotion...you love and want it... involved.) Then the seller's agent needs to convince the seller. Hopefully these two are good agents who can gather relavent data and be convincing in their arguments.
OP, I can see your dilemma. You feel like the house was put on the market as a tease. At this point your best bet is to get your buyer's agent to convince the seller's agent of the true value of the home. (Your input on this should be minimal since there will be emotion...you love and want it... involved.) Then the seller's agent needs to convince the seller. Hopefully these two are good agents who can gather relavent data and be convincing in their arguments.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I do feel like this is a tease & can see where if the sellers are serious about selling then they will have to readjust their expectations & I realize it is difficult to accept when you start thinking of what you will get for your house & then to find the market has different expectations.
Actually my agent and sellers agent have been communicating as obviously the agents would like to put together a deal as well but if one side is unwilling to have a real discussion then we are stuck. I think a deal is eventually possible it's just going to take more time than I would prefer. I obviously have some emotional interest but feel I am pretty grounded on what the fair value of the house is. Just would like to get past the theatrics and move forward. One other concern any seller should consider is that interest rates will not remain this low forever and if any increase occurs then most likely prices will be pressured.
Many sellers are detached from reality and the agents that represent them do not feel any compelling need to bring them down to earth since their commission is tied into the agreed upon sales price.
I'm going to disagree with this statement. I belong to 20 plus real estate forums, both local and national, and I have never heard of any agent who wants to keep the list price at an unrealistic level just to earn a commission on that elevated amount. First of all, most agents are going to have to carve off a piece of that commission for their broker, Uncle Sam, and their business costs. The difference in the inflated price and the market price just isn't going to make that much difference to an agent.
Second, and more importantly, if the house doesn't sell, the agent doesn't get paid. Period. What I continually see and hear from my colleagues is that the seller is emotionally attached to a way too high price and that agent is desperate to get them to see reality. I have walked away from listings because the seller thought their homes should be priced much higher than the market.
Now, here's a more likely scenario. You're dealing with an agent who cannot convince his client to drop the price. I took one of those and it took me the better part of the year to get the seller to lower the price to where we started receiving offers. I will not do that again.
Or the agent may be inexperienced.
Or, there are cases where the agent took the listing at the higher price and hopes to pick up buyer clients off of the yard sign. I can't bring myself to do that, but there are those who do.
I'm in that group of agents who pays for professional photography, staging consultation, and direct marketing up front. We want to sell the houses, because we want the reputation of meeting or exceeding our clients' goals and because we have families to feed, business expenses to pay, and retirement to save for. I love to design marketing plans and I love to negotiate. I don't love over priced listings that are a drain on my time, budget, and mindset.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I do feel like this is a tease & can see where if the sellers are serious about selling then they will have to readjust their expectations & I realize it is difficult to accept when you start thinking of what you will get for your house & then to find the market has different expectations.
Actually my agent and sellers agent have been communicating as obviously the agents would like to put together a deal as well but if one side is unwilling to have a real discussion then we are stuck. I think a deal is eventually possible it's just going to take more time than I would prefer. I obviously have some emotional interest but feel I am pretty grounded on what the fair value of the house is. Just would like to get past the theatrics and move forward. One other concern any seller should consider is that interest rates will not remain this low forever and if any increase occurs then most likely prices will be pressured.
Same can be said for buyers. Sometimes they need to adjust their thinking on what they can get for their money. Not saying you are being unreasonable, but I've run into more than a few buyers who think they can get their dream house on a peanuts budget. Or think a seller should reduce their price based on "they love the house and want it" and not on the fair market value.
When we sold our last house, we had a buyer give us a low ball offer along with a letter about why the house was "just perfect" for them and that they "needed it for their family" and wouldn't we consider their offer based on that? We politely declined and sold the house to another buyer (a couple days later) at over list price. The first buyer sent us a nasty gram about how we "ruined their dreams of homeownership." Yeah. Don't care.
[quote=oneslip;43697961]Just wanted to vent so please excuse my post. Finally found the perfect house for us & the seller is in clouds with his listing price. It sucks ...
Yes it does. We found a 2 story home in 78748 here in Austin. The backyard was tiny and many of the homes around it had burglar bars. The front door had been kicked in and was split. The home was awkward and not fixed up well. The seller wanted too much for it because they kept insisting the foundation had been fixed but would provide no proof and it had a new roof and they were going to replace something else.
It was just out of touch-people want to make their own improvements if it is a roughed up house the seller should sell "as is" and bring the rice down accordingly. Randomly picking something to fix and fixing it to justify the overpricing is just loopy.
Just wanted to vent so please excuse my post. Finally found the perfect house for us & the seller is in clouds with his listing price. It sucks because I made a very realistic offer (well above comps) & the sellers refuse to budge or even discuss and found my offer offensive & yet their asking price is what is offensive. It's almost if their saying the buyers are stupid and will pay this crazy high price. Numerous showings and all the feedback is the same...OVERPRICED.....slap in the face!
Just stinks when a seller is not in reality and you kind of wonder why would an agent take such a listing as I would think it would harm their reputation as a knowledgeable agent and if the listing expires I would bet the sellers would not recommend that agent in the future. I'm sure agents feel when the market tells them what the property is worth then the sellers will come back down to earth & just want the listing. My issue is how long if ever will it take for the sellers to get real & can I wait it out without giving up on this property.
Just sucks when you want to buy the house and the sellers will not really communicate or try and work out a deal. Guess their just as frustrated wondering why someone will not pay their asking price..."but our house is so nice and we put so many upgrades the people should pay us whatever we ask".
Sorry gang just wanted to vent with folks that probably understand my frustration.....
Quit whining and look at homes you can afford. Period.
Koale
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I agree!
sigh...
