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If I were the seller, or advising the seller, I'd advise them to accept the 5% over. However, at this price point, it's entirely possible that the lower offer is all cash. My parents have sold homes in this price range and they have, more than once, selected lower all-cash offers over higher offers with a mortgage.
I've only sold homes at a much lower price point and I always go for top dollar even if it means taking risks with mortgages and contingencies and such; so far it's always paid off but I know it's a risk. For example, if the house doesn't appraise and the mortgage falls through and you have to start over.
I should have mentioned this part.....the sellers NEED 60 days to vacate. So a fast closing won't help them. We offered 30 days to close and 29 days of free rent back. That was part of the seller's end that they need 60 days to find a new place to live.
And we had to waive the appraisal contingency. We will have it appraised for the mortage company. But if it comes in less then we have to pay the difference.
The more I see this deal in writing the more it seems like we're getting the short end. Only because the house is sitting for 3 months now. On a new listing, yes I can see this. But I think these seller's think they are still in a seller's market. Well it's not a seller's market for you when your house is sitting with no offers.
All I'm doing is thinking of all the reasons I shouldn't buy this place. If they come back to us asking for a higher price, we are going to tell them to step on a Lego. We're not budging on our offer.
I should have mentioned this part.....the sellers NEED 60 days to vacate. So a fast closing won't help them. We offered 30 days to close and 29 days of free rent back. That was part of the seller's end that they need 60 days to find a new place to live.
And we had to waive the appraisal contingency. We will have it appraised for the mortage company. But if it comes in less then we have to pay the difference.
The more I see this deal in writing the more it seems like we're getting the short end. Only because the house is sitting for 3 months now. On a new listing, yes I can see this. But I think these seller's think they are still in a seller's market. Well it's not a seller's market for you when your house is sitting with no offers.
All I'm doing is thinking of all the reasons I shouldn't buy this place. If they come back to us asking for a higher price, we are going to tell them to step on a Lego. We're not budging on our offer.
Since they need time to fine a new place to live, perhaps they aren't in any hurry and are now wondering if the price will net them enough to find what they are looking for. On the face of it, your offer seems fair but I was in a situation where my home sat on the market for some time and I was in no hurry to sell. Some buyers seemed offended that I didn't accept their offer when my home was on the market for so long. Not implying that this is your situation but you really don't know what is motivating the seller.
Since they need time to fine a new place to live, perhaps they aren't in any hurry and are now wondering if the price will net them enough to find what they are looking for. On the face of it, your offer seems fair but I was in a situation where my home sat on the market for some time and I was in no hurry to sell. Some buyers seemed offended that I didn't accept their offer when my home was on the market for so long. Not implying that this is your situation but you really don't know what is motivating the seller.
Probably because they felt you were wasting their time. Kind of "if you don't want to sell, don't put it on the market." We had a similar situation. We made a full price offer on a house. After a couple weeks of hemming and hawing, and going on, they finally rejected the offer. Our realtor was a bit miffed at how much of his time was wasted too so he did some checking. Apparently they'd had the house on and off the market something like seven times that year and had already burned through several realtors who would no longer show the house.
Probably because they felt you were wasting their time. Kind of "if you don't want to sell, don't put it on the market." We had a similar situation. We made a full price offer on a house. After a couple weeks of hemming and hawing, and going on, they finally rejected the offer. Our realtor was a bit miffed at how much of his time was wasted too so he did some checking. Apparently they'd had the house on and off the market something like seven times that year and had already burned through several realtors who would no longer show the house.
Actually that was not the case. I did sell when I got the offer I wanted and a close date that was four months later. My point being, buyers often assume that a seller whose house has been on the market for a long time should be receptive to their offer. But you made my point, no assumptions should be made about a seller's motivation even if the house has been sitting for three months.
These sellers need to find a new place to live -- this is an important piece. We have neighbors who want to put their house on the market but haven't been able to find a new home in their desired market/pricepoint for over six months. They told me they bid on a home $100,000 over asking and lost out. Their home is in a hot market so it will sell quickly but they are stuck until they find something.
Last edited by Maddie104; 08-18-2021 at 05:19 PM..
I should have mentioned this part.....the sellers NEED 60 days to vacate. So a fast closing won't help them. We offered 30 days to close and 29 days of free rent back. That was part of the seller's end that they need 60 days to find a new place to live.
And we had to waive the appraisal contingency. We will have it appraised for the mortage company. But if it comes in less then we have to pay the difference.
The more I see this deal in writing the more it seems like we're getting the short end. Only because the house is sitting for 3 months now. On a new listing, yes I can see this. But I think these seller's think they are still in a seller's market. Well it's not a seller's market for you when your house is sitting with no offers.
All I'm doing is thinking of all the reasons I shouldn't buy this place. If they come back to us asking for a higher price, we are going to tell them to step on a Lego. We're not budging on our offer.
Now I’m excited to hear if you got it or not! Sounds like you made a fair offer and there is nothing wrong with standing firm on your offer unless you just must have that house. Try not to take things personally and be willing to walk away, which you are! It will work out as it’s intended to.
Okay I got our answer.... I needed to share this with you all. So we got the house. They told us at the 11th hour when the offer was about to expire that they are accepting it.
the reason for the delay is that the seller's realtor knows the people who made the other offer. That offer was below asking and he wanted to give them a chance to come up in price to beat our offer because HE would make commission on both sides! I had no idea this was legal. It was definitely not legal in the other states I've lived for a realtor to represent both seller and buyer. Apparently it is in California
So the other buyers were trying to figure out their budget if they could come higher. And it took them 24 hours to figure out that they couldn't. In the seller's realtor's attempt to line his pocket with both seller and buyer, he almost cost his seller's a sale. And again...on a house that's been sitting for 90 days in a zip code where homes being sold the first weekend with bidding wars.
This is an example of a realtor who did NOT have his seller's best interest at heart. Because his seller got a damn good offer on the table yesterday. I can see asking the other buyers if they can come up. But give them a couple of hours to answer. Not 24 hours.
And our realtor said it would have gone longer but they had to call the seller's realtor and demand an answer before our offer expired! Well I wanted to update you all. At least we don't have to house hunt any more and we do love the house
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