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I knew a guy that had a house assessed for 750K, realtors felt 1mm was "all the money."
Guy wanted 1.5mm. House was one of the nicest in the neighborhood, definitely the nicest on the block. It took him 3 years but he got 1.5. The kicker, the neighborhood got super hot once the sale closed and the house is probably worth 2mm today!
Real estate is as much about timing as anything.....
Thanks for all the comments and feedback, it has been interesting and have learned a few things. I also find it interesting how some feel that I am "whining" which I am & others seems to completely understand the dilemma yet a few think I am trying to low ball the seller which they clearly have not truly read my posts.
I'm not ready to say the "bubble" word although prices have risen quite a bit in the past year mostly due to lack of supply but it is only April....much more supply could possibly appear hence causing pressure on prices.
In the end, either this house will not sell- the sellers will open a real discussion to reach a deal- I find another house in the meantime or someone with more money then sense will pay the price. When I made my original offer my agent felt it was on the high side & wanted to know what my plans were & I said to live there until old age as I know my agent was concerned that I would possibly take a loss if was wanting to move in a few years.
If the house does not sell I bet the listing agent will think twice about accepting unrealistic sellers as this agent spend some bucks on high end brochures, photo's etc. but then again I guess that's just part of the profession. Thanks again for all the informative posts and letting me vent (whine) etc.
Hopefully, sometime soon you will close on an even more perfect house and look back in horror that you almost got sucked into that one?
We tried to buy an extreme fixer upper about eight or nine years ago. The seller started out at $399K or some such number. We offered $85K and they tossed us out on our ear. So we waited a year and their price dropped to $185K We offered them $95K and they refused that, too, and didn't want to counter or even start a dialog. We waited another half a year and their price had dropped to $118K and we were getting ready to offer them $100K for it when we found out they'd sold it for $98K. We were heartbroken that they'd sold 'our house' and not to us! However, after that, we started some serious house hunting and we ended up in a much nicer house in a much nicer location.
Since you found one perfect house (even though it has unreasonable sellers) then you'll be able to find another perfect house, won't you?
Hopefully, sometime soon you will close on an even more perfect house and look back in horror that you almost got sucked into that one?
We tried to buy an extreme fixer upper about eight or nine years ago. The seller started out at $399K or some such number. We offered $85K and they tossed us out on our ear. So we waited a year and their price dropped to $185K We offered them $95K and they refused that, too, and didn't want to counter or even start a dialog. We waited another half a year and their price had dropped to $118K and we were getting ready to offer them $100K for it when we found out they'd sold it for $98K. We were heartbroken that they'd sold 'our house' and not to us! However, after that, we started some serious house hunting and we ended up in a much nicer house in a much nicer location.
Since you found one perfect house (even though it has unreasonable sellers) then you'll be able to find another perfect house, won't you?
Thanks for sharing & that is exactly what I hope doesn't happen to me, by the time the sellers realize what FMV is for the property I will be long gone. Just so hows stupid some sellers can be..the people you mentioned lost even more due to the expenses for the extra year and a half they had the property so they would have come out much further ahead if they discussed the original $85K offer.
I'm sure there is another property out there that will come up but like your story it would just be much better if the sellers would at least open a dialogue to move closer to a deal as opposed to waiting for a period of time & lowering the price, waiting some more etc etc.
I guess i look at this a little differently. There are people out there who put a "make me sell it" price on things. They aren't motivated, but they throw the bait in the water and see if someone bites. The key is to recognize when you are dealing with one of these people and move on, instead of fixating on how out of touch they are.
These sellers may not be stupid, ignorant, or unrealistic. They may just be waiting for the right person to come along. Google "the greater fool" theory.
I'm sure there is another property out there that will come up but like your story it would just be much better if the sellers would at least open a dialogue to move closer to a deal as opposed to waiting for a period of time & lowering the price, waiting some more etc etc.
Unfortunately, sellers like this have to go through their emotional process to finally come to the logical conclusion you've already reached, and there's no telling how long that will take. Are you willing to wait and watch what happens with this property? You and your realtor could keep an eye on it and wait for the price to drop, then be the first in line (or maybe the only one in line) to make an offer. This is what buyers do in my market. Houses that are overpriced here will sit until that 1st or 2nd price reduction, then there will be an offer or even multiple offers once the price comes down to the correct level for the market. Many times the sellers are so frustrated at that point they'll take the first offer (full price offer at the new lowered price) that comes in. The key is to be that first offer.
In the meantime, keep looking at houses. You may find one you like better. But if you're not in a hurry then maybe you can keep this one in the back of your mind as your benchmark for whether you'll make an offer on another house or keep holding out for this one to have a price reduction.
We had a similar situation with our home. We liked it and needed a feature (second garage) that it possessed but it was so far above the going price per sq ft that it was crazy. It was still in our price range, but was not worth the asking price. We made what we felt was a fair offer, $20k over the comps, but it was about $40k less than their asking price. They countered by knocking $5000 off their price. We were seriously amused by that. I went through all the local comps and selected 4 or 5 in the same area that were very close in sq ftg and amenities, they even had better upgrades than the house we wanted, but no second garage. I wrote up a letter including the comp prices we were comparing their house to, the MLS sheets on those comps, and then offering what we felt was a premium we were willing to pay for that second garage, $20k, and added $5000 to our previous offer and asked that our realtor relay it to their realtor. After reading my letter, they accepted our offer. I can't say that it would work again or for someone else, but it worked for us. Turns out the seller was an extremely rational/logical type and he liked seeing how we arrived at our offer and eventually decided it was fair....and since it was their only offer in 4 months, he took it.
I guess i look at this a little differently. There are people out there who put a "make me sell it" price on things. They aren't motivated, but they throw the bait in the water and see if someone bites. The key is to recognize when you are dealing with one of these people and move on, instead of fixating on how out of touch they are.
These sellers may not be stupid, ignorant, or unrealistic. They may just be waiting for the right person to come along. Google "the greater fool" theory.
I cannot imagine going through selling a house just to see if I could get my price. I know people do it, but the stress and emotion involved, never!!
Funny how so many folks want to blame the seller for being greedy, but a buyer who makes a low-ball below market offer is just being a "savvy investor". And some folks refer to "fair market value" as though that's a cast in stone number. It isn't. At best its a range. And every principal in the transactions has their own idea of what it is.
Exactly. All else equal, a house will sell for whatever once is acceptable to both buyer and seller.
"Nothing to see here folks, keep the traffic moving."
No offense, but I don't see a win for the OP in this one. If you keep pursuit, you will mistakenly convince them they are priced right, after all, you are still there. Walk away or be prepared to pay more than you want.
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