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Replies (3)
- Nancy Lee, "An OrderLee Home"
- Contributions:1195
Are you saying it has been six months and the builder has not completed the house? And has it listed at a much higher price than the neighborhood? And your agent has suggested you bid much higher than the neighborhood average for this unfinished house?
Pardon me while I catch my breath.
IF you buy the house, who is going to finish it? If the builder says he will, what are your guarantees? If he sells you the unfinished house and declares bankruptcy, can you afford to finish it yourself? If it has been this long and he has not finished the house, I would be worried about this possibility.
Is the house that much nicer than the neighborhood? Can you afford to risk having an unfinished house, possibly in litigation, at a much higher mortgage than it's comparables?
Personally, I would run, not walk away from this risky situation. And, I would probably also back away from an agent who suggested offering significantly more than the neighborhood supports for an unfinished house.
There, now that someone has answered, we should hear from other people - get more rounded advice.
Pardon me while I catch my breath.
IF you buy the house, who is going to finish it? If the builder says he will, what are your guarantees? If he sells you the unfinished house and declares bankruptcy, can you afford to finish it yourself? If it has been this long and he has not finished the house, I would be worried about this possibility.
Is the house that much nicer than the neighborhood? Can you afford to risk having an unfinished house, possibly in litigation, at a much higher mortgage than it's comparables?
Personally, I would run, not walk away from this risky situation. And, I would probably also back away from an agent who suggested offering significantly more than the neighborhood supports for an unfinished house.
There, now that someone has answered, we should hear from other people - get more rounded advice.
- memaw2
- Contributions:4
Thanks, sorry about all the details. The house isn't that much nicer than the others in the neighborhood, but there is a mix of homes and manufactured homes. On this website there are only two or three homes out of about 20 in the area listed around the 125 asking price or higher, but they are not new - they are pre-owned - and complete - and more square feet, all with fenced yards and driveways and garages . . .the house is owned by an individual who was apparently finishing it and either got tired, sick, or ran out of money. Now they just want to sell it, for the 125 asking price, they will finish everything and provide appliances, my husband and I would rather finish what's left to do and pay 90 or 100 for it. Is that a reasonable offer in your opinion?
- Jeff Rainwater, "jrainwater"
- Contributions:189
Without seeing the home, its difficult to really give you advice on what you should offer. My suggestion would be to go through the house and make a list of everything that you think would need to be done. Price out what those things would cost you to do yourself then multiply that by about 115% to 130% (depending on what you think it's worth for doing it yourself) and subtract it from their full price. That way you know what you are paying is a better deal than having them do it for you. You wouldn't want to offer 100 for it then find out that its going to cost you 25 to do the rest of the work yourself because then you may as well make them do it for you and save you the trouble.
When you make the offer, have quotes and estimates from flooring places etc so you can justify your discounted offer in case they negotiate. Also, if there are any particular parts that seem they might be more laborsome you can write in a contingency that you want them to finish that one particular part. I highly recommend getting an outside contractor who has no particular interests in the transaction to come take a look at it and tell you exactly what they think is left to be done and what it should cost to do it. That way you know you have considered everything.
When you make the offer, have quotes and estimates from flooring places etc so you can justify your discounted offer in case they negotiate. Also, if there are any particular parts that seem they might be more laborsome you can write in a contingency that you want them to finish that one particular part. I highly recommend getting an outside contractor who has no particular interests in the transaction to come take a look at it and tell you exactly what they think is left to be done and what it should cost to do it. That way you know you have considered everything.
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