Forum Index
»
Off-Topic
Lowball offer on $599K house?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| DH and I mistakenly went to an open house for a house that we've always loved from the outside. It's listed at $599K which would be too much of a stretch for us. All indications are that the price is fair (a couple years ago similar houses were going for up to $200K more). Anyhow, I was just curious what a reasonable lowball offer on a house of that price would be? We looked at it a few weeks ago. It has been on the market for quite a while. We have not started working with an agent and didn't want to engage one unless we could seriously do this (although I have spoken to a mortgage broker to run numbers). I guess I just need to hear whether I should let it go or not... |
Anonymous
| ...and I know no one can really tell me, just curious what you think a non-offensive lowball offer could be? |
Anonymous
| IMO who cares if its offensive- make an offer for what you can do- they can reject or accept it. |
Anonymous
I'm not sure why you wouldn't just offer what you could afford and what is in line with the comps. If they say no, then that's that. But no one can tell you what you should offer and what would be non-offensive without knowing which house you are talking about and looking at the comps. Could be the house is priced just right, could be it's a little high, could be a lot of things. |
Anonymous
I agree with this. It's not as though you're trying to make friends with the sellers. Maybe they will be offended by a lowball offer, but you don't know how desperate they actually are. Offer what you can afford, and see what happens. |
Anonymous
|
How low would you need to go on the price to get it in your range? Are you talking more than 10%? To really know if the house is priced fairly you would need to know what the recent comps are for the house. This would mean working with an agent. How many days on the market? Have they taken any price drops already?
FYI: You can get a lot of info from franklymls.com |
Anonymous
| Personally I wouldn't bother offering less than 10% below asking price, if it is already fairly priced. but it doesn't do much harm - worst case scenario they just turn your offer down. |
Anonymous
| Is there a common sense shortage? |
Anonymous
| OP here. I'd need it to go down 10-15%. There has been one price reduction and the house has been on the market for a few months. The only reason I worry about offending is because the house is across the street from us... so, while I don't know the seller, she is a neighbor. As far as comps, the house is fairly unique, but since it's my neighborhood I've followed sales there for years and it seems like it is priced right. |
Anonymous
| Really depends on the area. In my neighborhood, there is a house that was listed at $525 and went for $500 on the first open house. About 6 months later, the house around the corner from it was listed at $1.5 and again got a contract on the first open house. That sold at $1,450,000. Again - location, location, location, but add to that the surrounding houses. The $1.5 house has a house next to it that went for $1.8 a few years ago. The $525 house is surrounded by houses in the $700 - $950 range. Depends on the condition of the house. Offer what you can afford. If they counter at full, then you know the answer is no. If they counter back at a good number, take it! |
Anonymous
I would offer them $540k and just see. But the irony is, you will also be selling - and if you get your low ball, you'll be affecting your own property values, won't you? |
Anonymous
| So you're trying to move across the street? That's so fascinating to me. Is the other house so much better than the one you're currently in? |
Anonymous
|
"The only reason I worry about offending is because the house is across the street from us... so, while I don't know the seller, she is a neighbor. "
Oh.my.God. |
Anonymous
OP here... I'm not quite sure why that warrants an oh my God...? Yes, across the street. We adore our neighborhood -- we're in a townhouse and there are single family homes across the street. We'd be gaining about 2.5x our current square footage. I realize having townhouses across the street impacts the re-sale value of the larger house but have taken that into account when considering comps. |
Anonymous
Not the OP, but we looked at houses on our street as well. Frankly, we bought in the bubble so really can't justify sinking that much money into our house...it's easier and cheaper to move than do the addition we wanted to do, and plenty of houses in the neighborhood had done the addition (namely those who bought before the bubble and paid $200K less than us, and so can justify sinking 200K into the house). We live close in and have no intention of leaving our neighborhood, but wanted ideally another bedroom and an eat-in kitchen. Our neighbors across the street have done a downstairs addition - but they aren't moving though so we couldn't buy their house! We ended up staying put and are doing a similar renovation (can't afford the two story addition we wanted but will have a bit more space and a more open floor plan) but you can bet in 8-10 years we will be looking in the neighborhood again for a house on the market that has done the addition we want. |