Unsolicited offers (Seattle, Kirkland: sale, real estate, rental)

[cmswazey]

Seems like everyone's getting a lot of them. "I want to buy your house; I can pay cash and close right away."

We get them fairly often (often leaving my name out of it like it's the 19th century...) A friend of mine with a house in Crown Hill gets many more- even to the point of phone calls.

We just got another. Guy went so far as to type up a purchase and sale agreement with price.

Am I correct in assuming that these are lowball offers that aren't as much as the person would get in a regular sale? What about the fact that there'd be no realtor commission? Some of them are probably house flippers, yes?

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by cmswazey

Seems like everyone's getting a lot of them. "I want to buy your house; I can pay cash and close right away."

We get them fairly often (often leaving my name out of it like it's the 19th century...) A friend of mine with a house in Crown Hill gets many more- even to the point of phone calls.

We just got another. Guy went so far as to type up a purchase and sale agreement with price.

Am I correct in assuming that these are lowball offers that aren't as much as the person would get in a regular sale? What about the fact that there'd be no realtor commission? Some of them are probably house flippers, yes?

Wouldn't say "often" here in NorKirk (Kirkland) but it does happen. Usually some Eastern European halfwit who thinks he's smarter than everyone else, offering asinine money for three-quarter to million-five properties. I have no idea or interest if they are "flippers."

More interesting are the well thought out greeting cards by reputable local realtors, personalized, explaining what their client is looking for, plus price range that is reasonable for market. Haven't seen one in a few months, but always intriguing.

I'm tempted to ask for ten percent over market, in a suitcase full of cash closing in fifteen days, one of these days. Probably won't, but nice to think about in an idle way.

[homesinseattle]

Get an independent appraisal. I call these cash offer real estate mailers "we steal equity from people who don't know how much their home is worth".

[bluehorseshoe]

Of course they are trying to rip you off. Let the market determine the value of your home, especially in this market.

[cmswazey]

Makes sense. I was surprised at the offer- higher than I thought. So house probably worth more than I thought. It's idle curiosity at this point. I have a very ill tenant in there and don't want to have her lose her only home. I might not sell for a few years.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by cmswazey

Makes sense. I was surprised at the offer- higher than I thought. So house probably worth more than I thought. It's idle curiosity at this point. I have a very ill tenant in there and don't want to have her lose her only home. I might not sell for a few years.

House prices have gone waaay up, higher in some parts of the Seattle area than they were at the 2007 peak.
That doesn't mean they won't continue to go up. And if you've got an ill tenant, and having the rental helps, or at least doesn't require a monthly subsidy, you'll be fine. And yes, like everyone above said, those unsolicited offers are generally low, lowball offers. You'd make a lot more selling on the open market, even after paying a commission.

[StealthRabbit]

These offers can be legit, for a fair price. and a QUICK transaction.

BTW: it IS fair market! Do your due diligence, that certainly is not hard since WA is a full disclosure state.

I pay my RE Lawyer $500 / hr, she can offer legal advice.

my realtor made $8,000/ hr on my last commercial sale in May. (He sold to one of my previous contract holders, so claimed he spent 5 hrs on the transaction.) Maybe so, it was a $40k windfall for him. I made far less that that for having my capital at risk for many yrs. But... everyone has to make a living I'm still eat'n and driving a 35 yr old car, so I'm happy, and my charitable contributions were well fed this yr.

So... if you want to lay an extra $20 - $40k on the table, buy and sell conventionally. You will help stimulate the economy. It's Certainly appreciated by WA State! (More RE excise tax for them! Yum, they LUV that!)

[Hemlock140]

With such unprecedented demand, and multiple offers over asking, naturally there will be people trying to take advantage. These offers may actually be reasonable based on the value of the home, but since a sale price is what someone is willing to pay for it, opening up to the general market will yield much more. It's a quick and easy way to get the money but you could be leaving a lot on the table.