Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would counter back with $30,000 below list price. Seriously.

Only if you have no desire to actually get the house, and just want to give seller the middle finger. Lowering your offer is just creating animosity.

I'd get your agent to seek an explanation. Then, assuming the explanation does not change your mind, counter at the same list price with a time limit on accepting your offer. Steel yourself to walk away if necessary.

Alternatively, think about whether there are any non-monetary asks you can make (closing date? Seller fixes something? Appliances you want to convey?) in exchange for raising your offer slightly. That way, seller gets the satisfaction of thinking she "won" by forcing your offer up, but you end up just as happy.

Sounds very frustrating.

I disagree with this. I would definitely counter with a price lower than list at this point. You have all the leverage since the seller probably owes a commission to his/her agent by virtue of receiving an offer at list price that s/he rejected. So, if you walk, they still have to pay their agent 5 or 6%.

Is it true that they would owe their agent commission if they reject our offer? My inclination is just to walk - we don't feel that strongly about the house and we are very put off by this. I don't enjoy the idea of dealing with these sellers any further.

Why do you care what the seller owes and who they owe it to?

+1. plus, you don't know what agreement they have with the agent. we rented a condo years ago and the landlord put it up for sale. offered it to us for a price, we refused because we were expecting a child and the place was too small (and too expensive, it was 9 years ago and prices in that building are still lower of what they wanted us). when the landlord put it up for sale, offered it at over 20K less than the price it was offered to us and told us expressly that it was an artificially low price to get a bidding war (they told us that because as renters we had the right to first refusal). the seller's agent and the seller apparently had an agreement that the seller was not require to pay commission if offers were below the price they offered it to us.

sorry, meant to say that the seller was not required to pay commission if he refused offers that were below the price the landlord asked us to pay

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would counter back with $30,000 below list price. Seriously.

Only if you have no desire to actually get the house, and just want to give seller the middle finger. Lowering your offer is just creating animosity.

I'd get your agent to seek an explanation. Then, assuming the explanation does not change your mind, counter at the same list price with a time limit on accepting your offer. Steel yourself to walk away if necessary.

Alternatively, think about whether there are any non-monetary asks you can make (closing date? Seller fixes something? Appliances you want to convey?) in exchange for raising your offer slightly. That way, seller gets the satisfaction of thinking she "won" by forcing your offer up, but you end up just as happy.

Sounds very frustrating.

I disagree with this. I would definitely counter with a price lower than list at this point. You have all the leverage since the seller probably owes a commission to his/her agent by virtue of receiving an offer at list price that s/he rejected. So, if you walk, they still have to pay their agent 5 or 6%.

Is it true that they would owe their agent commission if they reject our offer? My inclination is just to walk - we don't feel that strongly about the house and we are very put off by this. I don't enjoy the idea of dealing with these sellers any further.

Why do you care what the seller owes and who they owe it to?

+1. plus, you don't know what agreement they have with the agent. we rented a condo years ago and the landlord put it up for sale. offered it to us for a price, we refused because we were expecting a child and the place was too small (and too expensive, it was 9 years ago and prices in that building are still lower of what they wanted us). when the landlord put it up for sale, offered it at over 20K less than the price it was offered to us and told us expressly that it was an artificially low price to get a bidding war (they told us that because as renters we had the right to first refusal). the seller's agent and the seller apparently had an agreement that the seller was not require to pay commission if offers were below the price they offered it to us.

I would not encourage this behavior unless I LOVED the house, so good that you walked IMO.

It also starts the transaction with a sour taste and would undermine my trust in the sellers.

We got in a bidding war of sorts when we first bought here in 1988, house listed at $242k, we paid $252 (outbid 1 other bidder). But that was a case of an actual other party also making offers, this is cheesy negotiating tactics IMO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would counter back with $30,000 below list price. Seriously.

Only if you have no desire to actually get the house, and just want to give seller the middle finger. Lowering your offer is just creating animosity.

I'd get your agent to seek an explanation. Then, assuming the explanation does not change your mind, counter at the same list price with a time limit on accepting your offer. Steel yourself to walk away if necessary.

Alternatively, think about whether there are any non-monetary asks you can make (closing date? Seller fixes something? Appliances you want to convey?) in exchange for raising your offer slightly. That way, seller gets the satisfaction of thinking she "won" by forcing your offer up, but you end up just as happy.

Sounds very frustrating.

I disagree with this. I would definitely counter with a price lower than list at this point. You have all the leverage since the seller probably owes a commission to his/her agent by virtue of receiving an offer at list price that s/he rejected. So, if you walk, they still have to pay their agent 5 or 6%.

Is it true that they would owe their agent commission if they reject our offer? My inclination is just to walk - we don't feel that strongly about the house and we are very put off by this. I don't enjoy the idea of dealing with these sellers any further.

Why do you care what the seller owes and who they owe it to?

Because it affects their bargaining power and negotiating strategy. Or was that not a serious question...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What % is $30k more? Are we talking a 4% increase on a $750k house? Or are we talking a 1.5% increase on a $2m house? I think that makes a difference.

It doesn't make any difference at all. $30k is $30k. You sound like the seller trying to cloud a very clear issue.

When I was purchasing my first home, I made an offer and the seller came back with 5 G more. (This was when real estate was starting to boom.) I countered and we ended up paying about $2500 over the list price (so we met halfway). That was a decent compromise. 30K is a HUGE jump. I would walk away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would counter back with $30,000 below list price. Seriously.

Only if you have no desire to actually get the house, and just want to give seller the middle finger. Lowering your offer is just creating animosity.

I'd get your agent to seek an explanation. Then, assuming the explanation does not change your mind, counter at the same list price with a time limit on accepting your offer. Steel yourself to walk away if necessary.

Alternatively, think about whether there are any non-monetary asks you can make (closing date? Seller fixes something? Appliances you want to convey?) in exchange for raising your offer slightly. That way, seller gets the satisfaction of thinking she "won" by forcing your offer up, but you end up just as happy.

Sounds very frustrating.

I disagree with this. I would definitely counter with a price lower than list at this point. You have all the leverage since the seller probably owes a commission to his/her agent by virtue of receiving an offer at list price that s/he rejected. So, if you walk, they still have to pay their agent 5 or 6%.

Is it true that they would owe their agent commission if they reject our offer? My inclination is just to walk - we don't feel that strongly about the house and we are very put off by this. I don't enjoy the idea of dealing with these sellers any further.

Why do you care what the seller owes and who they owe it to?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What % is $30k more? Are we talking a 4% increase on a $750k house? Or are we talking a 1.5% increase on a $2m house? I think that makes a difference.

House is listed for less than 750.

Ah, could it be http://www.mcenearney.com/property/28792404/1108-CROSS-DR-ALEXANDRIA-VA-22302

Good try!But this house you show is under contract.

Why would you guess this house? Curious because I put an offer in and lost. Really disappointed. Loved that house.

Because it was listed under-priced.

If you aren't crazy about the house then walking away is best. We paid $30k over list for our house (of which I was not crazy about but their was nothing else on the market) and some days I really regret it.

Anonymous wrote:Walk. I had someone do this to me on a car sale, if you can believe it. We had closed the sale after I agreed to his list price on Craigslist, I joined a credit union to get the best car loan rate, got the bank check, and was set to meet him at 6 pm - then he emailed me that afternoon saying he wanted $2500 more because he thought he should be asking more since the car had GPS! I told him to shove it. You should too. This is totally dishonorable and lame, and you're right, probably an omen of things to come if you keep dealing with these people.

Why would you tell him to shove it. You should have told him that unfortunately, he had already agreed and sign to the sale price. He was obligated by a signed contract to the previous sale price and hold him to it. In your situation, if he had not turned this over to me, I would have taken him to court for breach of contract. You were entitled to the car for the originally agreed and contracted price. It wasn't your fault that he was an idiot when he priced the car.

As for those who suggest countering with a lower offer, that's just wasting both agents time. They are not going to accept a lower than list price, so why bother? Either counter with your exact same bid or reject the counter and move on. You should not escalate. There is no purpose to escalting even $1K. As the agent said, you are bidding against yourself. Why would you up the ante when no one else is bidding? The sellers choice is to accept or wait and pay another mortgage. If they were going to draw a bidding war, it would have been during the week after listing. After a week on the market with no offers, you are unlikely to get a bidding war without some change in the listing.

Next month it will cost 10% you snooze you lose

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, please update us on the outcome of this when you can!

We decided to walk. Like I said previously, we did not love the house and this just soured us on the whole thing. If we loved the house or were in a hurry to buy, we probably would have countered with list or slightly higher. But I agree with a lot of the posters that the Iinspection and closing would have been a nightmare. Not worth it to us.

OP again - thanks to everyone for the helpful insights. I wanted to make sure we weren't overreacting. It seems like a lot of people have a similar reaction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, please update us on the outcome of this when you can!

We decided to walk. Like I said previously, we did not love the house and this just soured us on the whole thing. If we loved the house or were in a hurry to buy, we probably would have countered with list or slightly higher. But I agree with a lot of the posters that the Iinspection and closing would have been a nightmare. Not worth it to us.

Agent again.

YES!!!!!! Good call!!! There will be another house.

Anonymous wrote:OP, please update us on the outcome of this when you can!

We decided to walk. Like I said previously, we did not love the house and this just soured us on the whole thing. If we loved the house or were in a hurry to buy, we probably would have countered with list or slightly higher. But I agree with a lot of the posters that the Iinspection and closing would have been a nightmare. Not worth it to us.

OP, please update us on the outcome of this when you can!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What % is $30k more? Are we talking a 4% increase on a $750k house? Or are we talking a 1.5% increase on a $2m house? I think that makes a difference.

House is listed for less than 750.

Ah, could it be http://www.mcenearney.com/property/28792404/1108-CROSS-DR-ALEXANDRIA-VA-22302

Good try!But this house you show is under contract.

Why would you guess this house? Curious because I put an offer in and lost. Really disappointed. Loved that house.