Answers (9)
- Lisa Hassler, "Historic Cape Cod"
- Contributions:15
Congratulations!
- umbmicro
- Contributions:5
Thank you all so much for all the advice! Just wanted to post a little update. The lowball offer actually quickly turned into a decent offer (they increased their initial offer by 20k after our first counter offer) and their agent just contacted me and told me that we have reached an agreement. So we are now under contract! Hopefully it will be smooth from here on out althoughh I know that the deal could still fall through.
- Nancy Celis, "nancycelis"
- Contributions:75
Its great you have an attorney to advise you and you have obtained an appraisal, however you truly need a real estate professional who is going to work with you, perhaps just charge you a flat rate to guide you through the process and look out for your best interest. Selling your home entails quite a bit of negotiating and knowing exactly what to do to protect yourself. There are many realtors on Zillow that work service your area and Im sure one of us can assist you! Best of luck to you.
- Lisa Hassler, "Historic Cape Cod"
- Contributions:15
First, I would definitely counter in writing. I understand why you listed a bit higher than your appraised value. However, the only difference between a house that is listed at "market value" and one that is listed above market value, is the amount of time it sits on the market before it eventually sells at market value.
A house that goes on the market at market value will attract 70% of potential buyers who are looking for a home (to lat least ook at it), while one that is priced just 10% above market value will only attract 30% of potential buyers.
Why is this important? Because time is not on your side. I don't know about your market but here, the prices are not going up yet. Buyers will move on to the next house that hits the market while yours languishes on the vine. The longer it stays on the market, the less possibility that you will get the price you want. And if your market is still going down.... well, then you'll be doing price reductions to keep up with it.
Ok, so that is the bad news. The good news is that you are not much higher than your appraised value and you are getting a lot of interest right now. If you have looked at the comps that the appraiser did to establish the price and you feel confident that they are a good representation of your neighborhood, then I would assume that the offer you have received is a low ball offer to see just how low you'll go.
I'd counter at your market value, $225,000. If they are working with a buyers broker, she or he should be giving them comps and they'll know that $225,000 is a fair price.
If they don't accept your counter offer, and your house has been on the market for 3-4 weeks with no other offers, reduce your price to $225,000. People will recognize a good buy and who knows, you may end up with two offers at once!
Good luck!
A house that goes on the market at market value will attract 70% of potential buyers who are looking for a home (to lat least ook at it), while one that is priced just 10% above market value will only attract 30% of potential buyers.
Why is this important? Because time is not on your side. I don't know about your market but here, the prices are not going up yet. Buyers will move on to the next house that hits the market while yours languishes on the vine. The longer it stays on the market, the less possibility that you will get the price you want. And if your market is still going down.... well, then you'll be doing price reductions to keep up with it.
Ok, so that is the bad news. The good news is that you are not much higher than your appraised value and you are getting a lot of interest right now. If you have looked at the comps that the appraiser did to establish the price and you feel confident that they are a good representation of your neighborhood, then I would assume that the offer you have received is a low ball offer to see just how low you'll go.
I'd counter at your market value, $225,000. If they are working with a buyers broker, she or he should be giving them comps and they'll know that $225,000 is a fair price.
If they don't accept your counter offer, and your house has been on the market for 3-4 weeks with no other offers, reduce your price to $225,000. People will recognize a good buy and who knows, you may end up with two offers at once!
Good luck!
- wetdawgs
- Contributions:39641
I would counter in writing at about 1/2 way in between - perhaps $220.
Have you had a chance to read Rockinblu's blog on FSBOs? He was successful, and has a lot of good suggestions (many of which you've already implemented).
This Zillow article is also useful.
Have you had a chance to read Rockinblu's blog on FSBOs? He was successful, and has a lot of good suggestions (many of which you've already implemented).
This Zillow article is also useful.
- umbmicro
- Contributions:5
I do realize that a lot of things would be easier having our own realtor and we did consider it for a long time. However we feel like we would have to increase the price of the home in order to afford that since we are losing so much money on the sale.
We do have a real estate attorney that we are working with - he just wasn't getting back to us in time so we have now decided to hire someone else. They have agreed to take care of all our paperwork in a timely manner.
We are not having issues with marketing (we have lots of traffic) and since we got an appraisal done, we know our listing price is fair. We feel like these are main things that a realtor would take care of. Yes, I agree that doing negotiations would be easier if we had an agent but it is hard for us to justify the extra expense of about $6000. While we would love to sell quickly, we are not in a terrible hurry to sell and our house is one of the few newer houses in the area so we don't have a lot of competition.
We do have a real estate attorney that we are working with - he just wasn't getting back to us in time so we have now decided to hire someone else. They have agreed to take care of all our paperwork in a timely manner.
We are not having issues with marketing (we have lots of traffic) and since we got an appraisal done, we know our listing price is fair. We feel like these are main things that a realtor would take care of. Yes, I agree that doing negotiations would be easier if we had an agent but it is hard for us to justify the extra expense of about $6000. While we would love to sell quickly, we are not in a terrible hurry to sell and our house is one of the few newer houses in the area so we don't have a lot of competition.
- Ofe Polack, "Ofe Polack"
- Contributions:3374
Find yourself a good Realtor that can help you negotiate, price is not everything in a negotiation. There is a big difference between the $$$ you need and the market value of a property. Good luck!
- Kim Scott, "MoveWithKim"
- Contributions:27
I am with Jonathan on this. Even if you make it through the negotiation phase, there are a lot of things a Realtor can help you navigate that will save you time, money and potentially legal issues along the way. At the end of the day, if you can't go any lower, you can't go any lower and this may not be the buyer for you. Good luck to you.
- The Jonathan Lerner Five Corners Team, "Jonathan Lerner"
- Contributions:42
I know you may really hate my answer, but you should talk with a professional Realtor ... there are so many factors that it would be unfair to try to give you good advise in such a post. The advantages of using a professional should outweigh the cost and save you countless problems as you try to move forward. Good Luck and let me know how you make out.... if you still dont want to take this piece of advice, make sure you talk with an attorney to answer your legal questions and protect yourself during the process! Best, Jon
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