There is a house I want to buy and the asking price is $1.3 million it has been on the market for over 600 days and the agent has just taken it off the market. How low do you think I can talk the owner down to? I was thinking $700,000 what do you think?
Dude, you have to give way f'n more info than that. If you go make an offer for half of their latest asking price, they may tell you to kiss the baby. Do your due dilligence, research sold comps (over the past six months, preferably) within a four block radius (this is how appraisers price homes), and come up with a reasonable offer that won't offend the seller.
If it was on the market for 600 days and you are a qualified buyer, I would take the initiative to talk to the broker and try to get a feel for what is going on. Every local market is different. Typically a half-price offer wouldn't be considered good faith and would likely not be met with a counter offer, but if they haven't reduced the price for 600 days on market, that isn't exactly smart marketing either.
Was it a short sale before? It could be going into foreclosure. Or, check you local property appraisers' website. They'll be a ton of information there. 600 days? Almost two years? Sounds like the owner was fishing for a sucker. Of course, the market removed, what, 40 % of the value of the home in that period of time. I've been fascinated watching this. It really is a mirror of the stock market, or a market crash. They all follow the market down, but they're making payments they can't afford. So, it has to bottom out with some sort of macro event. It's not like stocks where every one can sell at the same time, albeit it at crash prices. But something has to give. It's terrible and fascinating at the same time. And don't think because it's a million dollar home he's immune to what the $250,000 owners are going through.
You're not leaving yourself any room to negotiate. This would be a one shot deal. I suppose if I were to do that though, I would have a contract of sale drawn up with terms by a lawyer and mailed to the homeowner, Wait several days and have the attorney phone and ask if they recieved the offer from his client. Answer: Yes/no Interested? yes/no Case closed. How can you counter? You can't. The homeowner will begin to think you're playing games. --------------- Suppose they accepted your offer, how would they know you'll not lower your offer again at contract time? They won't.
Your exactly right I want this home but I DO NOT have the money to buy it as of now. I'm seriously not playing games please do not look at me as a joke I just want to know how low I can get this home for...hold on I'm calling the realtor now. He said that the family has decided to "winterize" the home and that is why they took it off the market. He also said that if the family was offered the right price they would sell it tomorrow; the lot size is 470,000 square feet it has 8 bedrooms,4 full bathrooms, and 2 half bathrooms. One of the reasons I think most people will not buy it is because it is surrounded by water and the only way to get on the property is by boat. This would be the perfect home for me to get away from the world and focus on my writing I'm still working on raising the money for it.
You have to find out how much is owed You have to find out if there is source of distress. You want to find out what the comps say the property is worth. Your goal is to buy properties below current market value. To do that you need distressed seller with equity who do not care to wait even 30 to 60 days to find a market buyer. Now how many distressed sellers are really willing to take 30 percent less than the market? (typically ones who have serious issues with the property - but once in a while there is a true reason) Short sales are different story. In part of the country you can sometimes get the lender to take a 20 percent haircut form current market value, but even that is rare in liquid markets.
Please don't take this the wrong way--I'm not being a smartass, but, are you sure you can afford this house, even if you get it at $700K? If you are still saving $$ to get it, maybe its not the right house for you. Have you given any thought to the ongoing taxes, maintenance, etc. that will come with such a house. Maybe its just me, but I've never believed in buying the most house I could afford, I've always wanted the house that I knew I could swing, even if something unexpected came up.
so what we have is: 1. a seller who is looking for top dollar and not really serious about selling. 2. a buyer who can't afford to pay fair value and looking to get a steal of a lifetime. sounds like a match made in heaven! i suggest you buy a house you can afford