<p>Ok Fauxnom…I am sending you house sending karma.</p>
<p>I think what will happen with the low ball bid is it will be used as a floor by the seller…so the seller can get a better price when the seller negotiates with others…</p>
<p>“We had a bid. It was solid. We turned it down. So your bid better be good.”</p>
<p>I think we will be in better shape in a couple of months if the place doesn’t sell. Plus…I have been talking to my wife and maybe we won’t even try to buy the place…she goes away for two weeks in a couple of days anyway…</p>
<p>Maybe it is time to take a break from this real estate business…</p>
<p>A friend of mine is going to put his house on the market next week. A Potential buyer found out about it, and wants to meet with the sellers agent and bid. The sellers agent said forget it because the only reason to meet is to explain a bid that is not full price…and if the buyer wants the house off the market…they have to bid full price…</p>
<p>And that sellers agent is probably correct. Because…back to me… My wife, today,
called the sellers agent of the townhouse to explain our unofficial…not full priced bid.</p>
<p>My wife said we don’t have time to fool around as she is leaving the
country (with somebody the agent knows…so the agent knows my wife is not full of xxxx). My wife said, “We are going to bid xxx…this is why…is this going to fly?”</p>
<p>The agent said the bid is reasonable but she has to talk to her partner and the seller. We will see.</p>
<p>Good - at least you gave it a shot and you’ll find out.</p>
<p>So your karma must have worked: we got an offer Friday. In the middle of that negotiation, some prospects who came to the first open house (oh so long ago) called our agent and said they want to make an offer. It’s not a bidding war, but I think the second buyer is going to net us more because they are using a discount realtor to make the offer. Keeping my fingers crossed that this all comes together!</p>
<p>1moremom, I’m sorry things aren’t working out yet. Hope your parents are doing okay, though? Sounds like you had a lot on your plate to begin with.</p>
<p>Dstark, thanks for asking. We’re still in the same place. I had a good friend look at it, and told her to be as critical as she possibly could be. She came back with one mild comment, but otherwise loved it. So no help at all. I’ll take care of the one negative she saw, but I just don’t know what else to do. I’ve looked at the more recent houses sold, and the price still holds up as right in the lower 25% of prices, even compared to homes with fewer bedrooms. Aaaaarrrrrgh. I just don’t know what else to do!</p>
<p>How about host a cocktail party there for real estate agents? or free barbeque? Or extra bonus to buyer’s agent? If you can get enough agents interested, they may be able to steer more possible home buyers your way…</p>
<p>dstark, I don’t say where I live, either state or region. The house (which was my mother’s, it’s not our house) is a 3-bedroom and all the people who’ve gone through it are all first-time buyers, or buyers moving from condos to single family homes. I believe the reason we’re having a hard time selling is that the house does not have a garage. Although none of the homes on that street or a couple of neighboring streets has a garage, most homes in our town do have garages. I updated the house quite a bit with sweat equity and with paid contractors. But I wasn’t willing to go the hassle of building a garage.</p>
<p>Thanks, hayden. My parents are in a downhill slide, I’m afraid, which is one reason I’m thinking it might be best to take the house off the market. I hope to get them out of their house and think moving them into my home, which they know, might be easiest on them. A nursing home is probably in the future, but I don’t want them to have to make more moves than necessary. Also, there is no long term care insurance and limited assets. (Their little house has a one car garage, but only two bedrooms and they paid asking price at close to peak market. :()</p>
<p>1moremom, I’m very sorry. I can understand taking it off the market. However, it they paid close to asking at the peak market, it may takes several years before you get back to where we were in 2007-08.</p>
<p>dstark, the streets surrounding my mother’s house all used to have one-car garages, but over the years, all the homes converted the garages into livable space, and left the cars in the driveway. Instead of building a garage, all someone would have to do is re-convert. I’ve wondered if we should do it, but when I asked the real estate agent, she said that the whole area of streets is like that, and it is safer to leave it as is. I guess part of my frustration is that everyone tells me I should leave the house alone and just be patient. It is not in my nature to be patient… . . . . . .</p>
<p>Thanks for the good wishes, all! We took the second offer, so we are now pending inspection I can’t start celebrating until that clears, but it’s such a relief to be at this point. Nice to think we’ll have the cash to pay for 2 kids in college again next year! </p>
<p>We didn’t counter this new offer; it was about equal to the counter-offer we had made to the first buyer, which they had rejected. And we didn’t see these new buyers coming up so we just bit the bullet. We are selling for less than we think the house is worth, but WE are not the market so we had to be realistic. Like some of the other sellers here, we heard nothing but positives about the house, but it is on a street that isn’t dead quiet and that was a deal breaker for some. </p>
<p>So for those of you still waiting, hang in there. It only takes one buyer to make it happen, and if you feel like you’re getting good advice about pricing, take it seriously. If your realtor hasn’t polled other agents about the price, that’s very important feedback to get. dstarks agent and mine both did that, and it has to help.</p>
<p>Hayden… real estate is slow…I don’t know how people deal with the pace…I dislike the time it takes to get things done…</p>
<p>We are officially going to bid for the townhouse today…and the seller’s agent wants 5 days to consider the bid because the seller lives out of the country…</p>
<p>whatever…i didn’t realize a fax takes days and days to go across an ocean…lol</p>
I can’t start celebrating until that clears, but it’s such a relief to be at this point. Nice to think we’ll have the cash to pay for 2 kids in college again next year! </p>