I love a house I saw today. It is according to my realtor, priced near where it should be at $457K. He said that about other houses I asked about comps too so IDK. (at the end of the day the more I pay the more he makes so I always keep that in perspective) Anyway, this house has been on market 4 months. The seller who is moving across the country and has most stuff packed up has only lowered the price $2K in all the time it's been listed. The house is nice however there are 3 full baths that will require renovation and 20-year-old tile floor and carpeting that I would want to replace bc I have pets and well carpet and pets are not good together in my experience. Oh and did I mention the taxes are pretty high? high enough to scare off most buyers. I am seriously considering making an offer but with this seller only dropping her price $2K in 4 months, is it even worth my time? FWIW I found out there have been no offers to date. If I do decide to make an offer keeping in mind the extensive reno what would u offer?
Should I even bother with an offer?
byu/Fun-Doctor8372 inRealEstate
Posted by Fun-Doctor8372
14 Comments
it cant hurt to make an offer that fits your budget and what you think its worth. it will be up to the seller to decide how to proceed from there but might as well put in an offer if you think its the right place for you. a lot of sellers are in denial about the market conditions rn.
Depends on local market and typical length on market.
Put in your top offer
As an agent, if you truly love the house, make an offer. What that is will be between you and your agent but yes, make an offer. The worst they can say is no
Ask to see the comps from your realtor. The fact you don’t like carpet is a you problem. The comps should dictate if it is priced reasonably considering the updates needed. No suggested numbers for you without comp review.
You like the house? Is it livable? Updating tile and carpet is a personal choice. What would it hurt to make an offer? What do you expect the seller to do? Welcome to buying a home.
The seller’s agent comped the house knowing what the bathrooms look like so don’t think the price is $457K minus your projected renovation costs.
Look at comps and make a fair, justifiable offer.
“The more I pay the more he makes”
Okay so you don’t trust your agent? 20k relates to maybe $500 in commission. Your agent doesn’t care about $500 on $450,000 purchase.
Look at the adjusted comps with your agent. They will advise you appropriately, but ultimate do what you ask. Offer what you feel it’s worth to you. Set a limit and start negotiating. If what the seller wants doesn’t meet your comfort level, you move on to something else.
You absolutely can still make an offer. While it’s sitting there waiting to sell, they are likely paying their monthly mortgage, insurance and HOA and other costs. They’re losing money every month.
Do you want to own the house or looking for an investment?
Not having a lot of information…. Offer 10% under ask. Start there. If they say no, you can always offer more.
If you genuinely love the property and see long-term value beyond the immediate improvements needed, making an offer is worth exploring. The key is getting accurate repair estimates and factoring those into your offer price. No offers in 4 months suggests the seller may be more motivated to negotiate than you think.
Honestly just send the offer. Your not insulting offer in this market it is just business. If you like the place but the price is too high, let them know what you are willing to pay. The worst that happens is a simple no, and then you are exactly where you are right now. If it has been sitting for weeks, they might say yes or at least meet you in the middle.
No harm in making an offer. But don’t expect much. Honestly, I always tell clients that very few price reductions in a long period of time can mean two things. One is they are fed up and ripe for a lowball offer. The other is they are stubborn and not willing to take any less. You get the idea? What I mean is, you just don’t know .
But, I would also caution you that you’ve really got no good reason to expect you’re going to get it for much cheaper than they are asking. One, they might be fairly stubborn and seem to know what they want for it. Two, your agent has told you that they’re not too far off market value .
By the way, people think agents want you to pay more because they make more money. They don’t. A commission is worth much more than a couple of hundred bucks. But, agents may want you to pay more because the seller won’t take less. So you can’t always trust them 100%. I mean, me you can. But I can’t say that about every agent .
But I will say this. Depending on what part of the country you are in, the buying season may be very close or maybe a few months away. The spring season of the new year typically sees slightly higher prices. And so, if it were October or November, I would say, come in with the low ball. They might be freaking out about sitting all winter with no offers .
But, with spring right around the corner, and rates coming down a little bit in the last week so I have noticed, and likely to come down even a little more, if the sellers aren’t too far off, I don’t know that they’re going to take much less .
My suggestion would be sit down with your agent and take a look online or in person of similar homes, maybe some a little more expensive maybe some a little cheaper and come up with a good idea of what this house is actually worth and act accordingly .
Honestly, you might know already. I tell my clients one weekend with me and they’re going to know exactly what every house they see after that is worth because we’re going to discuss it and we’re going to have a good idea of what’s out there and what it’s going for.
Good luck.