sbgrace Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We listed our house about two weeks ago. We got an offer today--for 18K less than the asking price. Is that typical? Do you just ignore something like that or they expect a counter offer? I will call the realtor after I can get my husband but I wondered if anyone has thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I am not sure I would bother countering to be honest unless maybe you were willing ot meet in the middle of that. I suppose it can't hurt but I wouldn't expect them to come up much if they started that low. Our buyers offered us $8k less than we listed and accepted our counter when we brought that up by $4K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessed3x Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I don't think it is uncommon, especially in today's market, but it also depends where you are. Good luck! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We listed our house about two weeks ago. We got an offer today--for 18K less than the asking price. Is that typical? Do you just ignore something like that or they expect a counter offer? I will call the realtor after I can get my husband but I wondered if anyone has thoughts. Well, it depends. Is the offer justified? Have similar houses in location/condition been selling for the amount offered, objectively speaking. Every seller thinks his house is worth more. The comps will justify or disprove that. If he's made a lower offer, he needs to be able to justify it. You do not have to agree, but I'd look at it objectively. If you disagree, then counter at an amount only slightly lower than your current amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Always counter. Always. (Unless it's very clear that the prospective buyer is financially unable to buy the house, or his conditions are absolutely unreasonable.) There's no harm in it for you, and the lowball buyers might just be feeling you out to see how negotiable you are. They may be willing to pay a much higher price than their first offer indicates. Don't let your pride get the better of you. This is business. The people like your house enough to want to buy it, so give them a chance to do that. The worst thing that can happen is that they reject your counter offer, and you wait for another buyer... but they might very well accept your counter and buy the house. It's so important to separate your emotions from your good business sense when you're selling your home. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I would definitely keep the negotiations going. I would counter closer to what I feel the house is worth and explain to the realtor that another offer needs to come up significantly to be taken seriously. I wouldn't close the door though. You never know if they were just looking for a deal but are willing to pay more. Good luck! Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Well, it depends. Is the offer justified? Have similar houses in location/condition been selling for the amount offered, objectively speaking. Every seller thinks his house is worth more. The comps will justify or disprove that. If he's made a lower offer, he needs to be able to justify it. You do not have to agree, but I'd look at it objectively. If you disagree, then counter at an amount only slightly lower than your current amount. Right. It would seem odd not to even respond to the offer. Maybe they prospective buyer is testing to see how low they can go. Maybe if you counter with a price closer to your asking price, they will come up accordingly. Or, maybe not. But if you counter with a reasonable price and they accept it, you've sold your house. If they counter and it's still too low, you don't have to accept it. We sold a house last November. It had been on market for a while and we had to lower the price quite a bit. We thought the house was pretty good but obviously the people out looking at houses to buy disagreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reflections Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Always counter. Always. (Unless it's very clear that the prospective buyer is financially unable to buy the house, or his conditions are absolutely unreasonable.) There's no harm in it for you, and the lowball buyers might just be feeling you out to see how negotiable you are. They may be willing to pay a much higher price than their first offer indicates. Don't let your pride get the better of you. This is business. The people like your house enough to want to buy it, so give them a chance to do that. The worst thing that can happen is that they reject your counter offer, and you wait for another buyer... but they might very well accept your counter and buy the house. It's so important to separate your emotions from your good business sense when you're selling your home. :grouphug: :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I think it depends on a variety of things like the local market and the asking price. In my area, offering $18 k below your asking price is not unreasonable for a $200k+ house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyeska Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 When selling a couple years ago, we got an offer $32,000 less than asking. We were shocked to say the least. An offer 18 k under asking...I could work with that. You could counter offer 5 less than asking and see if they will meet you anywhere near the middle of the difference. 18 k is a lot...but in this market, all offers should be considered imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 :iagree: Always counter. Always. (Unless it's very clear that the prospective buyer is financially unable to buy the house, or his conditions are absolutely unreasonable.) There's no harm in it for you, and the lowball buyers might just be feeling you out to see how negotiable you are. They may be willing to pay a much higher price than their first offer indicates. Don't let your pride get the better of you. This is business. The people like your house enough to want to buy it, so give them a chance to do that. The worst thing that can happen is that they reject your counter offer, and you wait for another buyer... but they might very well accept your counter and buy the house. It's so important to separate your emotions from your good business sense when you're selling your home. :grouphug: It's not uncommon for someone to low-ball it. Do not take it personally. You can give your counter offer. But I would say, since they offered so low, do not counter with your lowest price. Most likely, they are expecting to negotiate. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We always offer less than we are willing to pay. That is a lot less, but you never know what is in the mind of the buyer. (or seller for that matter) Definitely counter her offer. It is what is expected in this market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 On Day 9 of listing we got an offer for $12k below. We countered and ended up getting the full price:D Counter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I would counter. We offered $25,000 under asking, and we settled only about $4000 higher than we our offer. Sometimes people think you are desperate, and in our case the sellers were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoNative Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 When we listed our house in Feb. of this year - we got an offer $40K less than the asking price, in the first week it was on the market. We were in the process of countering, then got another offer, and amazingly the first buyer came up $30K. Then another offer came in above the asking price.... It's a buyers market and many people are looking for a good deal, testing the waters so to speak to see what they can get....frustrating as a seller....but, I would definitely counter with a reasonable (from your perspective - not the buyers) offer, something acceptable to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Always counter. Always. (Unless it's very clear that the prospective buyer is financially unable to buy the house, or his conditions are absolutely unreasonable.) There's no harm in it for you, and the lowball buyers might just be feeling you out to see how negotiable you are. They may be willing to pay a much higher price than their first offer indicates. Don't let your pride get the better of you. This is business. The people like your house enough to want to buy it, so give them a chance to do that. The worst thing that can happen is that they reject your counter offer, and you wait for another buyer... but they might very well accept your counter and buy the house. It's so important to separate your emotions from your good business sense when you're selling your home. :grouphug: :iagree::iagree: I love Cat. (It could be because she and I think alike). This is excellent advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Another reason to counter is that, because your house has only been on the market for 2 weeks, you probably haven't thought too much about the carrying costs of that house if you don't sell it for 6 months or a year. You may not get another offer for a very long time, and that's a huge reason why you should take all offers seriously, even if the bid is too low. Do you need to move? Because if you do, getting the house sold is an even bigger priority. You don't want two mortgages, and you don't want your current house to sit empty while you're living in a new house. The stress will be horrible for you. Realistically, if you haven't sold the house in a month or two, you'll probably have to lower the price anyway, and you'll have to lower it again a while later. All of a sudden, that $18k-too-low offer may start to look like it might have been a gift from above, and if you didn't counter, you may wish you had. I'm not saying you should accept the offer, but as I said earlier, there's no harm in countering. In this market, you have no idea as to whether or not there will be another offer any time soon, no matter how beautiful your house might be, so please take full advantage of the fact that you have an interested party with whom to negotiate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 It depends. What is your house listed for? $600,000 - then $18,000 is not so bad. $100,000 - then $18,000 is low. But, as someone mentioned, it also depends on what the comps are selling for. Around here a well priced house sells for about 92-94% of list price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 (edited) We got a lowball offer on our last house that we sold. We were moving out of state, and basically just needed to get out of it what we had paid, so we were very fortunate. The buyers were only approved to a certain amount, and our asking was over that. The offer was when the house was only on the market less than 2 weeks, but the real estate situation got a whole lot worse in the weeks and months following...we could have dug in our heels, but if all of the prices, comps, etc. kept dropping, we might have had it sit on the mkt 6 months and still only sold it for the same amount, *and* we would have had to pay the carrying costs during that time, worry about vandalism, etc. We countered, and they could only come up so much because they were only qualified for the mortgage based on the wife's salary (husband was self-employed, and these days the mortgage approval process is definitely more selective; it is tough for the self-employed folks to qualify at times). Her mom was her realtor, so we talked to both of the realtors about shaving off some commission in order to close the gap between the offer and our selling price. They had get approval from their agencies, but both agreed to it. That helped ease the pinch a bit. Our realtor was going to do an open house, etc. and a quick sale meant he had much less work to do in terms of marketing our home. After we got through those negotiations, we also got hammered with a requested list of repairs, and the house was in really good condition (I don't say that lightly, I've BTDT on both sides more than once). The buyer was getting all of the quotes from her dad (a contractor), so $10 bucks to hammer in each nail on the deck, etc. that needed finished off. My parents were still in the area so my (very handy!) dad took care of basically everything on their list. I don't think they had planned on that. I think they were planning a lowball offer, and then using the repair list to get back some cash from us to use for new hardwood floors and other improvements. They wanted rock, rock bottom I think. We didn't go for their list of repairs. I have been on the other side and know that is standard, but their list was ridiculous, and it ruffled our feathers even more since the father was the contractor quoting prices. I'm still glad we stuck with it and worked through it, even though at the time we were definitely miffed. Yes, it is hard to set your pride aside, but the market is what it is. In our case, we weren't desperate, but were moving out of state and already had a rental secured (didn't want to buy a new place until ours sold). We could have dug in our heels and had the house sit for a few months, and probably not made much more as we would have still been paying the mortgage on that house, and prices were still declining. ITA you have nothing to lose by countering. Edited September 5, 2012 by Momof3littles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 The house is listed for 112,900. We're in Indiana....housing is cheaper here..it's a 3 bed, 2 full bath brick ranch. The realtors we interviewed all came up with the same (within 1,000) listing price. So I think our pricing is good. I didn't think of the desperate appearance factor. We're not living in the house. We've moved to another city and are living in a home my parents own so no rent/mortgage. Of course we hope to sell but it's not as desperate as it might look to a buyer. Maybe that was part of the offer thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xixstar Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I would counter with what you will accept and not sweat it if they don't bite. I am a lowball buyer so we offered 50k less and seller was willing to go 25k less. Worked for us. But I also have a friend Thr could spend X and found 4 houses she liked and went down the list based on what she liked best but wasn't going to sweat it if the lowball wasn't accepted. She figured you never know unless you try. She got the first house on her list way below asking and has a great house now. I understand why sellers get emotional about low offers but I wouldn't stress over it much. My neighbor took 2 years to sell because she wasn't giving it away and didn't need to sell either, just wanted to. Best position to be in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 (edited) We listed our house about two weeks ago. We got an offer today--for 18K less than the asking price. Is that typical? Do you just ignore something like that or they expect a counter offer? I will call the realtor after I can get my husband but I wondered if anyone has thoughts. What percentage of your house's price is that? How did you get your house's price? Did they explain their offer price? We offered almost 9K less on the house we just bought, ~6% of the price. We offered comps that we were taking our offer from. We did not believe the house would appraise for asking (and it didn't.). We came up some and they came down and we closed earlier this summer. Edited September 5, 2012 by vonfirmath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We offered that much below a couple of times ourselves. Sometimes it took that much to get the house in our approved budget/preapproved mortgage. Sometimes it wasn't our favorite house, but it had other qualities we liked so we didn't give our best offer. Interestingly, of all the houses we really low offered on, 2 years later all are still for sale. And, food for thought, I heard a realtor say that the first offer is often the best offer. I don't know how true that is, but the longer it is on the market, the lower people want the price to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We offered that much below a couple of times ourselves. Sometimes it took that much to get the house in our approved budget/preapproved mortgage. Sometimes it wasn't our favorite house, but it had other qualities we liked so we didn't give our best offer. Interestingly, of all the houses we really low offered on, 2 years later all are still for sale. And, food for thought, I heard a realtor say that the first offer is often the best offer. I don't know how true that is, but the longer it is on the market, the lower people want the price to go. I once offered $60,000 below asking price. I was able to justify it by the comps. I got the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKapers Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I would counter they can always say no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearWallowSchool Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Don't be offended. If you dont like the offer, ask for more. They are just trying to get the best deal they can. :) plus, I expected you to say they offered 50,000 less. I don't think 18,000 is that bad. However, my husband is a negotiator so I may just be used to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I am currently looking at houses and the realtor suggested offering between 5 and 10% less than asking price on most homes. That is based on the market in our area and assuming the house is priced fairly based on comps. I don't know about the market where you are but $18,000 less on a $112,000 house is pretty low. I would probably counter with $110,000 or so and see what they do (or just say no if you don't really care if you sell or not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Always counter. Always. (Unless it's very clear that the prospective buyer is financially unable to buy the house, or his conditions are absolutely unreasonable.) There's no harm in it for you, and the lowball buyers might just be feeling you out to see how negotiable you are. They may be willing to pay a much higher price than their first offer indicates. Don't let your pride get the better of you. This is business. The people like your house enough to want to buy it, so give them a chance to do that. The worst thing that can happen is that they reject your counter offer, and you wait for another buyer... but they might very well accept your counter and buy the house. It's so important to separate your emotions from your good business sense when you're selling your home. :grouphug: :iagree:We have always offered lower unless advised not by a realtor (which we have not ever been advised) and our offers were lower than your based on comparables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We offered that much below a couple of times ourselves. Sometimes it took that much to get the house in our approved budget/preapproved mortgage. Sometimes it wasn't our favorite house, but it had other qualities we liked so we didn't give our best offer. Interestingly, of all the houses we really low offered on, 2 years later all are still for sale. And, food for thought, I heard a realtor say that the first offer is often the best offer. I don't know how true that is, but the longer it is on the market, the lower people want the price to go. :iagree: Our realtor said if a house is on the market more than a month or so than it is overpriced usually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 :iagree: Our realtor said if a house is on the market more than a month or so than it is overpriced usually. I just sold a house (closing was two weeks ago). This above is true if it is in an area in which the market is really hot, but not so much in others. In Miami, sales this summer were really brisk for houses that were reasonably priced, but it's not nearly that busy here in North Texas. The house across the street from me sat on the market for a year, not a blessed thing wrong with it--the poor sellers finally gave up and rented it. To the OP, to me 15% off the asking price is quite low. But I would definitely counter with a thoughtful adjustment on your price. If they counter offer again, have a game plan, yes, you'll come down x more, but in return, they'll agree to something. Ask your realtor for suggestions, depending on the situation. The idea is that they will trade money for less hassle or less wait for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 IMHO, 15%ish below asking is very lowball. I have received lowballs every time I've listed a house. NOT ONE was a serious offer. I believe that 99% of lowballs are made by buyers who are ONLY looking for a steal. (These 'professional' lowballers make lowballs on dozens and dozens of houses before buying . . . whereas serious buyers might make just one or two offers before sealing a deal.) Yes, some perfectly serious buyers might try to lowball (their risk, bad one IMHO if they are serious about a particular house) . . . but IME, most/all weren't serious at all. After the first few house sales and experiences of lowballs, I stopped taking them seriously. I'd say that 5% under asking is typical, very serious. 10% under is a marginally risky lowball, but still respectable. >10% under, IMHO, is ridiculous, espcially for a house that has been on the market for such a short time. My official policy would be to ignore offers more than 10% under. If it made my realtor happy, I'd counter with about $500 under asking price, or, if I were really snippy, asking price itself, and of course, with zero contingencies. ;) Every counter is a PITA. It takes several hours of your time (if you are doing it right, which you should!!!) Life is too short. Thus, my shortcut method to countering crappy offers. I've done that a couple times, and never had a serious counter come back. Lowballers are only looking for a steal. (And, yes, I've always successfully sold my houses for close to asking price. I think selling prices have never been more than 5% below asking, and closer to full asking in at least two -- of three -- of the sales.) Offers within 5% of asking price merit serious consideration, time to a thoughtful counter, etc. 5-10% is the range where I'd counter seriously only if all the OTHER elements of the contract were very good (closing date, big earnest money, no contingencies). Otherwise, I'd treat it like the >10% under offers -- quick counter possible to appease the realtor, but with zero expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammieb Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Not sure where you're at, but around here, that's the norm!! Realtors for the buyers always start them low to see what will happen. If you want to counter with a lower price, be sure they're paying closing costs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Always counter. Always. (Unless it's very clear that the prospective buyer is financially unable to buy the house, or his conditions are absolutely unreasonable.) There's no harm in it for you, and the lowball buyers might just be feeling you out to see how negotiable you are. They may be willing to pay a much higher price than their first offer indicates. Don't let your pride get the better of you. This is business. The people like your house enough to want to buy it, so give them a chance to do that. The worst thing that can happen is that they reject your counter offer, and you wait for another buyer... but they might very well accept your counter and buy the house. It's so important to separate your emotions from your good business sense when you're selling your home. :grouphug: :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Always counter. Always. (Unless it's very clear that the prospective buyer is financially unable to buy the house, or his conditions are absolutely unreasonable.) There's no harm in it for you, and the lowball buyers might just be feeling you out to see how negotiable you are. They may be willing to pay a much higher price than their first offer indicates. Don't let your pride get the better of you. This is business. The people like your house enough to want to buy it, so give them a chance to do that. The worst thing that can happen is that they reject your counter offer, and you wait for another buyer... but they might very well accept your counter and buy the house. It's so important to separate your emotions from your good business sense when you're selling your home. :grouphug: :iagree: they shouldn't have lowballed with your house not having on the market very long, probably a rookie agent. Always counter. Don't take it personally. Counter back at a teensy bit off your original price to show that you are willing to play...but not be taken for a ride. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I would counter, but not lower the price much. Your house hasn't been on the market long enough to justify radical price drops (unless you are desperate). They may be making an assumption that since you've moved already that you're desperate, and may be willing to make a deal. As far as time on the market, it really depends upon the area. The average sales period here is 90 days, but houses are selling as quickly as a week. There are four for sale back where we live, one is a short sale...that hasn't sold (probably because of the short sale factor, it is NOT over-priced. But, people may assume that because it's currently priced *so-low* that something is wrong with it. It's priced about $100,000 below market (I am not kidding, the house is only 5 years old, too) The other 3 houses are well kept, but *old*. Nothing has been updated...since the houses were built in the early 1970's. Pink toilets, included ;). They are also on the main feeder road to all of the neighborhoods, So, from that standpoint, I think someone could make the argument that they are over priced. Two new-construction homes are under contract here, too. I'm hoping their final closing price is really good (their listing prices are low, but if they add *anything* the prices will shoot up quickly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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