<p>Something most first time buyers don’t do (and I see it on House Hunters a lot, and wonder why realtors don’t do this) is actually compare and contrast what the monthly payment amount would work out to be, based on a 30 year loan. As an example, I watched a show with a young couple, and the husband was insistent they could not add another $8k to the offer, no way, no how. I grabbed a calculator and figured out it would have cost him about another $9-15 a month if he had. He was so stuck on the price, he couldn’t see past it. </p>
<p>To the OP, my aunt is a realtor (retired), I read her your post, and she said that most buyers know you have no mortgage on the selling property (info provided by their agent), and therefore know that (except for closing costs, commission, etc.) 100% of the sales price is yours. They are hoping that you’ll bend for them. </p>
<p>What does your agent think about their final offer?</p>
<p>I live in Silicon Valley. To visualize this situation, it helps me to multiply all numbers by 10. You listed the house for $2.25 million, they offered $1.9 million, OK, now the problem is more intuitive for me.</p>
You can counter in numerous ways besides just offer price. For example, you might offer to include/exclude an awning, refrigerator, all the furnishings, or whatever else is important to the buyer. When I bought my home, I had the seller include over $100k worth of AV tech he had in the house. He probably didn’t want to move/sell it (the heaviest of the speaker sets weighed 1550lb), and I was happy to get it at a heavily discounted price, so it was a win-win. </p>
<p>If I was in your position and deciding whether to accept the offer, I’d consider the activity on the house and based on that estimate how likely it is for you to get another reasonable offer soon, then I’d also consider how much less you’d spend per month if the house is sold. You mentioned that you plan on using the home sale to pay off mortgage on the new one, so if your mortgage on the new one is $1600/month and you plan to pay off 100%, then it’s costing $1600/month not to sell. You also need to consider property tax on the old home, insurance, and other expenses, which might bring it up to $2000/month. So if based on the offer history, I thought I was quite likely to get another offer $10-20k higher within 2 months, then it would be an easy decision – hold out on the higher price. I might also try taking off market and later returning since there is more activity on newly listed properties than ones than have been idle for 2 months. My neighbor did this. After ~2 months without a sale, he delisted. When he relisted, it sold in 8 days at $120k above the price when delisted. However, if that was the only reasonable offer and the house had not had much interest, then I might settle for a lower price. I’d also review why the offers were low by comparing offer history with similar properties, reviewing what was different with my property, and getting feedback from potential buyers as well as from my realtor.</p>
<p>I am hoping to list my house before years’ end. </p>
<p>In my area, houses are usually bought in bidding wars. Hoping same happens for us - but so hard to know. Comps or Zillow - what is best way to price a house?</p>
<p>So what is the best thing a seller can do to get top dollar? Refresh the paint with neutral colirs, declutter and store stuff, curb appeal are obvious things. I am at the point where I am putting big dollars into house so next buyer will say yes - but what is too much? Is it better to replace a worn floor or give a flooring allowance? </p>
<p>It is so painful to put money into a house I cannot enjoy long-term!</p>
<p>I would ask to see if they are pre-approved for a mortgage. If they are a first time buyer, they may not be able to get a mortgage and you would be locked on a contract which you couldn’t close on for few months. A plus side for a first time buyer is that they won’t have a house to sell before closing on yours.</p>
<p>If you don’t think you have over priced then I would wait it out. Your monthly expenses can’t be that high to keep the house - tax, insurance, utilities. NYC real estate market has been red hot, which means nearby states market will also be going up. I would even consider taking it off the market and re-list it again in the spring. $35K is a lot of money.</p>
<p>MommaJ, where I live and the market conditions does not matter (for the record the market is not great here). 60 days is stale inventory. If you price at market and the house is in good condition and is not a strange house it will sell. If it does not then either there is something wrong with the house or it is overpriced for the market. </p>
<p>People’s read of the market or comps does not matter. The market is very efficient. If the house was at market price it would be snapped up. The problem is that buyers most often have an inflated view of the market and agents go along to get the listing. </p>
<p>I’ve bought/sold a lot of houses in different markets. If you don’t get an acceptable offer within two weeks of listing your price is beyond market. A 1% a week drop in price is needed. Move the price on the listing every 3 to 4 weeks. So at 6 weeks on the market you’d drop 4%. Still no offer? Drop again a few weeks later. </p>
<p>Magical thinking won’t sell a house. If you need to sell this is the scientific way to do it. If you don’t NEED to sell then feel free to stick to your price - someone may come along eventually. It could be tomorrow, could be a year or more. </p>
<p>Is the house completely empty? Sometimes that is a negative…looks stark to potential buyers. Stage that house. Agree, if you haven’t already done so, paint, and make it look fresh. </p>
<p>And I completely agree with Oldfort. If the house doesn’t sell by November, remove from the market and list again at the beginning of March. Take thisemfewmmonthsntomdo inexpensive sprucing up.</p>
<p>When we sold our first house, we actually had a few offers that fell through when we first listed it in August. They fell through. We took the house off the marker in November, and replaced carpet that was really awful (1970’s plaid) in a huge room. We resisted at the beginning of March and had an offer within days.</p>
<p>In your OP you state the house is worth $225,000. The initial offer came back $35,000 too low, and you have negitiated. The offer is now $212,000. Is that correct?</p>
<p>If so, you’re not really talking about a $35,000 difference, you’re talking about $13,000 and perhaps your unwillingness to negotiate. How close to the initial $225,000 do they need to get for you to feel comfortable? If the initial offer was $190,000 then they’ve already added $22,000 to their offer! If you have a firm number you want to see, walk away. If you’re just unhappy about getting less than you expect, look more closely at the numbers. How long will it take to find a buyer at your price? How much longer will closing take if you push the current buyers higher and they have to renegotiate for a higher mortgage? For each extra month, how much are you losing in opportunity costs, insurance, and property taxes? What other expenses will you have to cover over the next few months? Electricity, heating, anything else?</p>
<p>OP here: Original price on house was 225K. Their initial offer was 190K. We countered with 220K, they countered with 195K. We countered with 217K, they came back with $200K and they would take care of any issues as a result of a home inspection. We came back with 212K and they take care of any home inspection issues. That is where we stand now. We’ve come down 13K and they’ve come up 10K. </p>
<p>We would be comfortable at 209K; not sure if they are willing to come up any further. </p>
<p>I completely agree with an earlier post–I wish someone would tell these kids that the difference in their monthly mortgage payment from 190K to 209K is about $65 per month. I remember, though, being in their position. It was the big number that had us scared!</p>
<p>We should hear from our agent later on today. I fully expect that they’ll walk away. We haven’t mentioned the 209K yet.</p>
<p>If you can’t live with their offer, you are going to have to let them walk away. They have a maximum they can afford, and for all you know they are already pushing it at the latest offer. It’s irresponsible to encourage them to pay “only” $65 more a month. It may be a lot to them, and this mentality is exactly why so many people are over their heads in debt.</p>
<p>I had this situation when I sold my last house (by owner). Cute young couple came in and said they could only spend $Z. Well, I was hoping to get $X and knew I could eventually. It was nice to have them in my “back pocket” in case a better offer didn’t come through, but I held out and one did about a week later.</p>
<p>Your situation is a little different because your house is vacant and winter is approaching. Empty houses don’t show as well and raise doubts in prospective buyers’ minds that something might be wrong–why is your house just sitting on the market? Plus every month it sits idle it is going to cost $____ in heat, maintenance, taxes and insurance. How long can you wait?</p>