Apparently buyers don't care if you are priced thousands below market,

keep the house

its not a good time to sell a house

its a buyers market

anyways

good luck

bump

what does "bump" mean????

it means bump the topic to the top

bump means the poster wanted this thread at the top of the Sell Your Home queue (so it would get more attention).

I know it is frustrating to get low offers. Buyers know that your only choices are to accept, reject, or counter. They suspect that they can wait another 3 - 4 months and you'll drive the price further down.

Have you had your home recently priced against sold properties? It may be time to recheck the assumptions about value.

Set a bottom line at which you will settle and communicate that in negotiations. Understand that a buyer can and will walk. But you retain your home and its value. Unless you absolutely need to sell, stay in your home.

You cannot make someone buy at your price (or make you sell at theirs). One way to communicate your bottom line is to tell them your price is FIRM, or that a specific discount is FIRM.

That's all you can do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand

Market value is what both parties are willing to close a transaction. There is a disconnect in many markets as buyers are unwilling to pay close to asking price and sellers are unwilling to lower their asking price. Assuming no duress, there are 2 outcomes. The seller lowers the price to the point buyers are interested in purchasing or sellers wait until the market appreciates to their asking price. Time is the unknown. "wayyyy below what it should be" is not a factor in supply and demand.

I know what you mean. I have our home priced at 200K less than the same model home in our community, very few calls, and the one's that do call ask if we would do owner financing or "is this your best price"? Good luck with this.....

I know what you mean. I have our home priced at 200K less than the same model home in our community, very few calls, and the one's that do call ask if we would do owner financing or "is this your best price"? Good luck with this.....

There are always "bottom fishers." Ignore them.

I wouldn't recommend going $200k below the market. It says you are dumping your troubles on someone else. Is this a fsbo?

This isn't rocket science.

1) find out how many sales, what types of homes, and the prices they sold.

2) determine what is your competition.

3) price competitively (at the low end for your type of home in your neighborhood, or just below the low end).

4) make sure it is advertised  where it will get attention (most sites, free or otherwise, will NOT get you any attention). Don't pay for a site unless you know the success rate.

5) don't waste your time: make sure small things are fixed, make sure the yard is clean and beautiful, paint inside, take out the clutter, fix anything rusty.

6) revisit your price and competition either weekly or monthly.

7) patience is important. Your buyer is not likely to show up in the next day or week.

8) it is good news if you get offers, even bad ones. They have to be signed before you can look at them. Learn to negotiate. Set a bottom price and communicate an unwillingness to budge. You should know that a buyer may walk or not respond.

Once you know the price of your competition, you can respond with: my home is priced competitively with all other homes with these features and sizes. We offer (list advantages), so given our home's neighborhood, we are confident that there is interest and our value is fair. We are unwilling at this time to entertain any offers that are not reasonable.

Best of luck,

Mike

The post above yours sold his house boat and bought a REO for 65% off the previous sale. You might read that and re-evaluation your "way below". Everything is relative, especially price. As usual, w4ever is right.

However if you wait until prices gets back to where you want it, have plan b if in doesn't. Beany Babies dropped fast back in the day, I still have a box in my attic waiting, going on 10 years now....

Sorry Vickie:

Either take the offer and sell the house or don't.  It's only a decision you can make, unless it becomes the bank's decision.  The offers you get are a reflection of what buyers will pay for your house.  You can't hold a gun to their head.  The question is whether continuing to pay your mortgage for another 6-12 months or more is worth it to you?  If you take that into account, is dropping your price worth it?  Only you know the answer to that question.

Kind Regards and good luck

I don't know where this is going to end. But there is a huge disconnect brewing between buyers and sellers. The graph below is an area I'm tracking, blue is listing price, red is sell price. Note the trend lines on both. It's weird, and like I said, I don't know what's going to happen in the end. 

''There are always "bottom fishers." Ignore them.'

Bottom fishers? People out there are doing the right thing - offering what they think is market value. Wouldnt you?

BTW..ignoring the low balls is horrible advice. Please consider them. CHances are next year you might relist at the lowball offer of today.

Any offer is a good offer, even if it is low.  It opens up negotiations, and that's always a start.

below what it should be.

I am confused by this statement -- what do you mean what the price of a house should be?

    Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock...train is leaving ...last chance to sell !!!!!! sell now, save money, buy with a huge money down later.  It's going to be a long way down and your credit will come back at the right timing. 

Last one to sell is a rotten egg...

The OP is a classic case of why houses don't sell. It doesn't matter what you "think". It only matters what someone will pay. Houses are easy to sell even in a tough market, if they are priced correctly. They don't sell if they aren't priced right.

It really is that simple, we can close this thread.

Vickie,

I have heard of bidding wars in a fairly lousy market (Sacramento). This is what happens when houses are really priced below market.

Mind you, I know nothing about your house, so I my comment might or might not apply to your situation.

When an offer comes, there is nothing wrong with countering.  There is no reason that they have to accept the counter, but you can see if you can negotiate to a price more acceptable to you.

I had two offers earlier this year on the same day.  One was at 97% of asking price (which was priced below sold comps) and one was 85% plus the request for me to pay ~10% towards remodelling (yeah, they went for broke!).   Clearly the different buyers had different perceptions of competitive value.    If countering doesn't work, hopefully the next offer is within your comfort zone.  

What's your definition of "lowball"?  Maybe you need to reexamine what that means to you and how are you willing to adjust that perception.  Some people "lowball" as a strategy, expecting you to counter.  Maybe their offer is just a starting point to begin the conversation.

"I have heard of bidding wars in a fairly lousy market (Sacramento). This is what happens when houses are really priced below market."

Sacramento is a very lousy market...and you are correct.  THere are bidding wars when a house is actually priced well...this is how we know that the seller posting here is not under market otherwise he/she would have multiples...

Buyers DO care that your home is priced below the market value.

That's why you are getting showings, but there is something that is keeping these people from writing on your home. Be honest with yourself and look to find what it is and you may find that you are not "really" $20,000 lower than the market.

As to receiving low-ball offers, the real estate transaction is very similar to playing poker. Each side is trying to get as much information out of the other without giving any of their own away. By responding the way you did to a low-ball offer you closed off any chance of a deal.

toby_1 yes I am getting showings. Three have returned a number of times. Yet no offers, I want to sell the property and as you say I must be in the general market. But without feed back or an offer how do you know what to do? I will bargain if I know what the issue to bargain is.

Vicky,

A Zillow glitch or bug of some sort won't allow me to call up your listing or look at its comps - meaning, the "sold" comps as opposed to listed comps.

I thing the extreme low-balls  - tens of thousands below comparable sales in the neighborhood - would be investors or buyers who can't qualify for your neighborhood saying what the heck, give it a shot. My belief is that people who can afford a certain neighborhood are looking at the market and looking at a "higher"  level than they can afford to see if they can sneak their way in by getting a good deal from a desperate buyer or one who has owned a home a long time.

So a buyer who can afford a 3-bedroom, 2-bath in a family neighborhood will try to give it a shot for a 4-bedroom, or for a home in an executive neighborhood. So rather than buy what they can afford now, for a price that's even reasonable in the ongoing market crisis that is lower than two years ago, they are looking at newer, bigger, more upscale homes than they otherwise would be able to afford. Once they realize prices won't drop by hundreds of thousands in most cities, as some Bubblers seem to believe, they will again get realistic and realize that if you're a teacher or social worker (my income range-not slamming anyone), you're not gonna get the country club. And even if you do, you wouldn't be able to afford the membership to the country club even if it is across the street.

Once they realize prices won't drop by hundreds of thousands in most cities, as some Bubblers seem to believe...

Well, prices will drop to 1999-2000 levels -- and that means, in fact, hundreds of thousands of dollars in many places.

There is a 1.2 million home near me that is listed for short sale at $850K......they got an offer of $750K.....this home will likely fall into foreclosure before they can find a buyer willing to catch this knife......hundreds of thousands is becoming a reality. 

I got a lowball, I balked, was insulted, then cleared my head, talked with the Zillow folks....none who said dump the price, take the offer or other such stuff, just told me to think about it from all angles.......I gave my REA what he needed to know to get us to a deal and he did.   Being too attached to a number, or shall I say beholden to a number (what you owe on the house) will inevitable screw up your chances of selling your home in today's market.   If you can't wiggle then get out and resign yourself to staying put.

I agree not to be overly attached to a number if an owner has wiggle room.

But outside of extreme Bubble markets (meaning, I'm not talking about L.A. NYC and Bay Area etc  where insanity ruled for a decade) , I really doubt that homes sold for 250k-300k in 2004 will be going for as low as 100k anytime soon.  Million-dollar-plus homes are difficult to sell since there are fewer people earning the big bucks to afford them. That's CEO money and most buyers work FOR that CEO, earning less. Then add jumbo loans drying up for buyers as the sellers can't refinance, and that's a disaster for any buyer who needs a sale fast.

Condos are another matter. Recent history shows those can be precarious purchases. In the 1980s when interest rates dropped and Baby Boomers flooded the market with the units as they had babies and needed yards, many of those condos went rental or were sold as apartment buildings. It's going to be dicey for them.

I understand supply and demand and I know that buyers set market value.  But I think psychology is interfering here sometimes.  I've read advice on financials blogs that say, "when buying, make an offer that is 50% off the listing price."  I think that is just ridiculous.  The so-called value of my house has gone down since 2006.  I'm okay with that.  But when I put it up for sale, what good does my trying to list at current market value do me if people will automatically discount that price by 50%?  It tempts me to list much higher than I want just so I can entertain low-ball offers.  Some buyers don't seem to be interested in fair market value, only in incredible bargains.