What's a Fair Offer - Page 2

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

When we sold our house the agent told us upon his first visit what he thought the house was worth. We added $5000 to that to allow for negotiation. A neighbor 3 houses away had a house almost exactly the same as ours for sale for about $3000 more than we listed ours for , and we had a much nicer yard and we had done updates over the years and they had not. When we got the first offer it was very lowball and we did not even counter - my DH said he was not interested in discussing it with them, they came up $10,000 and we came down a couple thousand and in the end we sold it for EXACTLY the amount the realtor had said it would sell for. That house 3 doors down the street never sold, they still own it and rent it. Our realtor told us right from the start - and this was in 2010 , the worst time to sell a house - that you can only sell it for what it is worth, the biggest mistake people make is to set the price by how much they need to get from the home, instead of by what the house is worth.

novamc1 · ‎07-02-2015

Generally speaking (and everything said about real estate is a generality), if you cannot make a deal at a dollar amount that is within about 95 percent to 98 percent of the list price, you have overpriced the house, or the buyer should not have been making an offer on it in the first place (either because he can't afford it or he just doesn't like it enough).

Depending on market conditions in your area, a good strategy is to very modestly price the house and attract a bidding war. Selling for 100 percent or more of a list price is quite possible when the house is priced right to begin with.

Important to remember that buyers determine the fairness of a price. The seller's wants and needs often have nothing to do with deciding what is "a fair price"..........the seller can only decide what he can feel good about accepting. Usually buyers and sellers reach a meeting of the minds on this issue.

novamc1 · ‎07-02-2015

Regarding advice that you get your property professionally appraised before putting it on the market, be aware that this will cost hundreds of dollars, the appraisal often has nothing to do with the market value of the house in the eyes of buyers, and is as about as useless in determining market value as the tax assessor's estimate of value or how much you feel you need or want to get out of the house.

Any Realtor and even any astute internet surfer can determine the approximate value of a home by studying comparable prices and sales in the area. A seller must be competitive with other current sellers and must sell for a price that will satisfy the eventual buyer's lender (which will involve a separate appraisal of recent comparable sales by the lender's chosen appraiser.)

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@novamc1 I agree - people should use a realtor who knows the neighborhood well and is a professional - a soccer Mom who does this for spending money in her spare time would not be a good choice - then the realtor should be able to tell you right what your fair price is and how much to list it for. Then as soon as it goes on the market you need to have an open house for agents so it can be shown by multilist realtors and then soon after a regular open house. The realtor should be using every possible means to get your house noticed. After all you are paying him a lot of money. A realtor who does not show your house a lot is useless - ours showed the house at least once a day every day - many days more than once - and it sold in 9 days for exactly the amount he told us it would go for.

riley1 · ‎03-10-2010

@Mistreatedbycs - Get in touch with your Realtor and have them come in and give you an assessment of what the selling price would be. Also, have them show you some comps from your neighborhood. I can remember many years ago, colonials were all the rage in my area and the top of the $ range - now you can get one for a song - the market really took a beaten.

novamc1 · ‎07-02-2015

I see some statements here that have worn quite thin over the years and are nothing more than specious complaints made when houses don't sell quickly.

In fairness to Realtors everywhere, we should not judge how hard they are working for a client by how many times the house is shown. That would be absurd.

You can't show homes to nonexistent buyers, or buyers who can't afford that property, or buyers who have clearly indicated that they don't want to look in that neighborhood, that street or at any house of that style.

Agents will show any house as often and as long as they possibly can, but they don't work miracles---up to and including creating a qualified buyer for a particular home, or generating fast and frequent showings when the market is slow and buyers are staying home.

Most sellers in my area would not appreciate a steady stream of foot traffic from unqualified buyers, anyway. (That includes curious neighbors who cruise open houses just to look at the decorating.) If the agent wants to make any money for himself and the seller, time is better spent on productive marketing activities, which do not always involve open houses.

I'm also sure no sellers would appreciate it if agents tried so hard to impress them with their frenetic activity that they start dragging family, friends and other agents through the house posing as prospective buyers. How silly that would be.

Again, a real estate license does not enable human beings to pull buyers out of thin air. Trust me, if a seller's agent has a real buyer to show that listing to, that house WILL be shown......as often and as long as possible.

Hooty · ‎03-09-2010

Use Zillow and see what the house is worth, see what it sold for the last time it was sold and go from there.

If you are selling to make money, it maybe on the market a while, if you are selling to get rid of and to move to another place, I'd try to sell to maybe make even, IMO, each circumstance is different!

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@Mistreatedbycs wrote:
What do you consider is a "fair offer" to accept in selling a home?

Generally, I understand the "low ball" trying to get it for nothing approach but if you have some people that are very interested what should you consider?

I don't think this question can be answered by anyone but the seller. There are too many factors involved. Also, different areas of the country have different ways of negotiation and different regional ideas about bargaining.

novamc1 · ‎07-02-2015

@Mistreatedbycs

There isn't any way for others to decide here on the "fairness" of an offer, but I would urge you and anybody else selling a home to never refuse to give a counteroffer, no matter how low or "insulting" the original offer is. Those are maddening, I know.......seen a million of them, don't like them any better than clients do, but..............

When people make lowball offers, they generally expect a counteroffer. In most cases, every effort should be made to keep an interested buyer engaged, and the only way to do that is to go along with the negotiating (not forever, but at least for a while).

Even a counteroffer at your full list price is fine......it politely and respectfully invites the buyer to make a better offer.

Refusal to engage with a buyer at all is guaranteed to get the seller absolutely nowhere in the process of selling a home. It also sends a bad message to the person making the offer.

The caveat, of course, is that sellers should determine first whether the purchaser is even financially qualified for the price range at issue. If not, send him packing with no counteroffer.

Mom2Dogs · ‎03-09-2010

@gardenman wrote:
Property values are constantly in flux. Locally, prices are nose-diving. A nearby home that sold for $140,000 in 2008, just sold for $26,000. Smaller houses here are now selling for $10-$30 a square foot. The bottom has completely fallen out of the local market. It's getting to the point where any offer is a fair offer. A large home up the road from me last sold for $350,000, but has been on the market for months at $149,900 with no takers. You have to know what's going on in your local market to truly understand what's a fair offer. Many of the local realtors haven't adjusted their asking prices to the new reality and their homes just aren't selling. You really need to know what's happening in your immediate area to know what's a fair offer.

@gardenman...That is a big drop in price, is there something specific happening where you live that would cause this. In our area things are down but nothing like what you indicated.