How much will a really builder take discount an inventory home? (Riverview: days on market, comparable sales)

[sueinge]

If an inventory home is listed for $324,000, how much would a builder really be willing to negotiate on that kind of price? Would 10% less be way unrealistic to ask?

[TampaKaren]

It depends on a number of factors. For example, how much inventory is the builder carrying, days on market, motivation, buyer qualifications, and recent comparable sales (location has some bearing on price as well). A good broker will also be able to give you the average list price to sales price, dollar price per square foot (low, medium & high), and market trends for the area.

[Mike1306]

Each builder is different but the big mistake I see with many on this board is asking about percentage off list.

If 2 similar homes are for sale and one is listed at $300,000 and one is listed at $270,000 by going 10% off list on the 1st you are priced right where the second one is.

Find out what similar homes have sold for, see what other homes are currently listed for and then figure out an amount that you feel comfortable with and offer a bit less than that.
Even if you have to go up some from there you can still be in your comfort zone.

Some areas you may be able to get it closer to 15-20% off list other areas it could be 5%.

[TampaKaren]

In addition to the PP, one thing to remember when buying real estate, "I've never had a seller say that an offer is too high and should be lowered." You can always raise an offer, but lowering it rarely happens. In a buyer's market, go low.

[sueinge]

Thanks!! I appreciate the help!

[scamutz]

It really depends on how much they've already come down. If the home has already been discounted deeply - they may not have much room...but the bottom line is - offer very low and counter their counter. I promise you that they'll never NOT sell you the home because you started out too low.

[New England Yankee]

I saw your post about Heritage Harbour.
Where are you thinking of moving.The manors? I live in Greyhawk right near HH.

[tresjolie3]

It's supply and demand.
If the market does not support the asking price, the percentage off is irrelevant.
Find comparable homes that have sold recently to determine what the home is worth in the present market. The builder's asking price may have been determined when real estate values were higher.

The worst that will happen if you bid too low is that the builder will come back with a counter-offer which you can accept or reject or make another counter-offer.
There may be many offers/counter-offers before a mutually acceptable price is reached.
If you cannot agree on a price, walk away and see what happens.

[Camisis]

Originally Posted by sueinge

If an inventory home is listed for $324,000, how much would a builder really be willing to negotiate on that kind of price? Would 10% less be way unrealistic to ask?

I think it's worth a shot. I'm building a home with a builder in Riverview. The sales agent let it slip that one of the model homes sold for $330K. This home's base price, without upgrades, was $296K and had almost $100K in upgrades. They took a huge hit and he said that it happens all the time with inventory homes because that's what hurts them the most. So I say go for it. They may try to negotiate with you but it's definitely worth trying.

[MarketingGuy]

Use a realtor.

My realtor got 30k+ taken off the price of our inventory home when we bought.