We have been house hunting for what seems like forever. We did find a house that we liked, the price is good, the location is good for our commutes. We decided to make an offer. We did this on Saturday. We didn't get our own realtor because we don't have a house we are selling and we found the house we want, so we thought it might give us some more room to negotitate since they don't have to pay realtor fees for us. We make the offer, it was about 10% less than the asking price (which given the market I think is fair.) We also asked for 60 day closing because we have to give our landlord 60 days notice, and then pay a month's rent as a penalty. We also asked for the carpet in the basement to be cleaned (there's a smell down there from their 2 dogs, his cigar smoke and an enormous fish tank. I think that between cleaning the carpets and repainting it should be fine. In reality, we want the carpet replaced because it's ugly but we can live with it for now.) We also asked them to pay closing costs. Keep in mind the realtor has been telling us nonstop about how the sellers just want to get rid of the house, they are flexible and motivated, yada yada yada. Sunday rolls around and we a call from the realtor saying that they didn't even counter. The offer is too low and the impression I have is that they pretty much won't accept anything below the list price, they don't like the 60 day closing, they think the carpet is fine, they also don't want us to do the additional home warranty or the survey where the actual stake the yard (the yard is huge and completely fenced and so we want to make sure that we aren't encrotching on anyone's property.) Then we are using a mortgage broker that is a family friend and not from this area, and they don't like that and made a comment about "protecting the interest of the kids"- kids meaning us. To say that I was pissed would be an understatment- I was livid. We made a huge mistake in not getting our own realtor because I firmly believe that she has totally screwed us in this- they don't know us so she must have been giving more information than needed for them to infer we are kids (30 years old and we are kids?)
What a freaking fiasco. The seller said he might counter a 2nd offer---MIGHT? What kind of attitude is that in this market. New flash, we are your only buyers right now according to the realtor. Then she said that they haven't sold a house in 20 years- so isn't that her job to make them aware of what the current market is like? Maybe they don't watch the news or read newspapers...
I am still reeling...sorry! I'm ready to walk away and keep searching.
Mel
Re: Made an offer- what a FIASCO!
I just read your message. I would be extremely upset. To be honest, I would cut ties with this offer and continue looking. I'm absolutely positive you can find a nice house in the area you're looking for the amount you're willing to pay. It's not a bad market in Indy right now. Also - for your own safety and peace of mind, I would get a realtor. If you don't have a realtor, my husband has many contacts with Tucker (he has his real estate license in referral status with Tucker). We actually just talked with our realtor last weekend and got a lot of good advice. If you'd like to talk with my husband and get some numbers for good realtors, just let me know. You can email me at mschmelzer24 at hotmail dot com.
Good luck! I know we looked at tons of houses before finding our current house. It'll all come with time and you may be glad this happened.
HTH!
Boo - I'm sorry it was such a fiasco ( It might not be a bad idea to have a realtor looking out for you guys. I think their realtor should point out that it's been 20 years and the market blows - oye. I'd also be annoyed at the age discrimination
Thanks for all your input. We made a bad decision not getting our own realtor to start. We planned to if we decided to make an offer, but we went and saw the house a 2nd time (an appointment, not through an open house) and it was really last minute so the seller's realtor showed it to us. Then one of DH's co-workers said that we need to stick with her since she has shown us the house a 2nd time by appointment. I don't know if that's true, but we were moving very quickly on the house so we decided to just stick with her.
We had a looong conversation yesterday with her. She feels really bad because I have to think that she presented the offer in such a way that they sellers didn't feel like we were serious so they didn't counter. I don't know why, it's in her best interst to sell that house to us. She's ready for us to make a 2nd offer and she knows she can get them to at least counter, if not acccept. Huh, isn't that interesting....we do want to try 1 more time to get the house, but that's it. If they don't take it offer, we will walk away. But we are going to let them sweat it out. I think we are going to make an offer maybe in a couple of weeks. I highly doubt that house is going anywhere. If it does, then it wasn't meant to be I guess. We think that if we wait a little, they might come to us, or at least get a reality check and look at our 2nd offer seriously.
I'll let you know! We might be home owners someday!!
Mel
I don't know if you have seen these or not, but I thought they were interesting
http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/5-new-rules-for-home-buyers.html
http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/5-new-rules-for-home-sellers.html
Walk away.
There are too many houses for sale and you don't need to deal with their crap. Get a realtor and find a house with truly motivated sellers. I wish you the best!
I agree w/ iugal, walk away. There are other homes out there and it is a buyer's market so you will have plenty to choose from. I'm not sure if I understood it right but is the seller's realtor representing you as well? If you are then you should re-think and think again since you'll never know if she's looking out for you (to get the best deal possible) or the sellers. It's not too late to go and get your own realtor.
Good luck with you search. Your house is just waiting for you so keep looking! ?