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and is there any way to dress up a lower offer with non-monetary things that would make it more appealing? There is nothing we like in our price range, but several houses we love that are 5% higher than we can realistically pay...I'm going to make some offers, and I understand we'll probably not get it accepted, but no harm in trying. I am wondering should we go in with the max we can spend and tell them that's our top? It would be 6-7% less than asking...and in an area where houses are moving quickly, none of these houses have been on longer than a few months.
Not an agent here, but I would think that if you are a cash buyer, obviously that would help make your offer more attractive. Or if financing, you are pre-approved for that amount, have a nice amount down, will pay all closing costs, etc.
As a seller I would not be offended by an offer of 6% off of list. Even 10% would not be offensive and I would counter. 15% is where I want to see "as is" and not be asked to pay closing costs.
Making an offer more appealing to me would be not having a bunch of contingencies or a buyer who will take the house as is. My house is close to 100 years old and I am sure there are a few niggly little things for an inspector to find. It sure would be nice to find a buyer who is not looking for perfection.
One thing you could do is offer a quick(er) than normal closing for your area. For example, if you can close in 21 days, that would be more appealing to a seller than 30-60 days. And generally, I would never recommend making a highest and best offer first unless you're buying a foreclosure and/or you know the house is priced to sell. Other opinions may differ. Good luck!
yeah well cash is our problem Unfortunately at this point we will barely get anything out of the sale of our house and will only be able to make a 10% down payment scraping up every bit of cash. Adding money to sweeten the deal is completely out. We would be able to close quickly and we would be fine with not asking them to fix every little thing, the house in question is only 4 yrs old anyway so i don't expect alot of issues.
one more thing...is there any value in including a letter with a low offer explaining our situation? Here's our situation:
1. We are a young family relocating to a new state
2. getting almost nothing out of our current house due to the RE market in our area
3. we'll easily qualify for the mortgage we need and have excellent credit and stable work history
4. we can close quickly
5. will not nit pick during inspection, but do want to be able to walk away if huge issues are found (like they need a whole new septic etc).
We've absolutely fallen in love with this one particular house that is slightly out of our price range.
Would a letter detailing all of this help soften the blow of a low offer? or not bother?
Cash is not an incentive. Only really unsophisticated sellers would ever seriously entertain an offer without lender verification.
If a home has a realistic listing price that is only 5% above what you can spend it is almost certainly worth making your offer for something more than 90% of the listing price so long as your research (or that of your real estate agent) verifies that comparable properties are selling / have sold in the range of your offer / the amount you can afford.
If the comps suggest that the home is ALREADY UNPRICED at full list it is entirely likely that a strategy of offering even a little bit under list will not work, as the seller's hope is probably to generate multiple offers ABOVE LIST.
The key is to KNOW the value of the home by having a THOROUGH understanding of the comps. Do NOT shop for homes that have comps too far away from your "target price". By primarily making offers on homes that are priced close to their true value you will have the best outcome for yourself and the seller. Remember too that, in these economic circumstances, the scrutiny from lenders is much higher and no matter what the seller thinks their home should fetch, a buyer than is going to have to work with a mortgage will not budge if the appraisal does not justify the amount needed to be borrowed...
one more thing...is there any value in including a letter with a low offer explaining our situation? Here's our situation:
1. We are a young family relocating to a new state
2. getting almost nothing out of our current house due to the RE market in our area
3. we'll easily qualify for the mortgage we need and have excellent credit and stable work history
4. we can close quickly
5. will not nit pick during inspection, but do want to be able to walk away if huge issues are found (like they need a whole new septic etc).
We've absolutely fallen in love with this one particular house that is slightly out of our price range.
Would a letter detailing all of this help soften the blow of a low offer? or not bother?
A letter could serve as a great way to "humanize" you to the sellers. Put a face to a paper with numbers. A few years ago I worked with a young couple with two small children and we wrote a letter. The sellers were an older couple with adult children. They accepted my buyers offer even though a competing offer would have netted them about 2k more, because they said my buyers reminded them of themselves 20 years ago. They raised their children in that home and had a lot of happy memories, and said they liked the idea of another young couple coming in and doing the same.
Edit: That said, if the sellers are indifferent, then a letter could reveal too much about your motivation, financial situation, etc and give the sellers a sense of leverage, thus making it negotiations a little harder.
Write the offer. Forget the letter. You are in the game at the offer level you are talking about.
Include the helpful factors, quick closing, good preapproval letter, in writing, in the offer.
If your agent gets resistance, they can say, "Look, I have some folks here who are about at their limit of what they can do. They certainly don't mean to be offensive, but if there is a deal to be found around this level, they would like to get the home."
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Unfortunately at this point we will barely get anything out of the sale of our house and will only be able to make a 10% down payment scraping up every bit of cash. Adding money to sweeten the deal is completely out. We would be able to close quickly and we would be fine with not asking them to fix every little thing, the house in question is only 4 yrs old anyway so i don't expect alot of issues.
