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Does this seem like a "ridiculously lowball" offer to you?
I am pretty sure my grandpa is just crazy.
His condo has been listed for 18 months, and has had zero offers. There are new construction condos for sale and also other ones just like his for sale.
List price started at 220, he dropped to 210 recently. Just got an offer for 180 and close on June 5th. That doesn't seem totally crazy to me considering how long it has been on the market. He is offended, lol. He is countering 207 and close on Aug 1. After trying to sell for a year and a half, he is not ready to actually move 
Its his house, his choice obviously, but I am just a little annoyed with him, and tired of hearing him be all "poor me" about it, esp considering that 20 or 30K is a drop in the bucket for him.
Re: Does this seem like a "ridiculously lowball" offer to you?
If he can afford not to take that offer I do think its pretty low. Without knowing the aprasial value or comps around him I would say that $200k would be an appropriate offer. I mean the $10,000 is going to make probably $100/month difference in payment assuming they have a pretty traditional mortgage, right?
I don't think it's an insulting offer though, and if he's not going to have to bring money to the table then I would consider taking it. I wouldn't counter with $207 and August 1. Maybe $200k close June 5th?
We made an offer like that on a house -- it was listed for $220k by an old widow who had raised a gaggle of kids there. We understood it was sentimental to her, but with the old knob & tube wiring and tons of updates needed, it was only worth $180k to us, so that's what we offered. She was so offended she didn't even counter.
A couple months later, her agent called ours and asked if we wanted to come back to the table. We'd moved on, so no.
I watched it on the MLS for the next year or so... it went from $220k to $210k... then to $190k, and finally came off the MLS a year or so after our initial offer. I looked it up on the county website -- sold for $188k. So I guess we weren't so off the mark after all.
She wasn't crazy, and your grandfather probably isn't either, but it's just worth more to them than it will bring in the market. His choice when or if he wants to make that concession. I would nip the "poor me" thing in the bud though, next time he tries it. "Well, do you want to sell it or not? You had an offer."
I think it really depends on what kind of work the condo needs and the comps in the area. If your grandpa is trying to sell against new construction and those new condos are going in the $200k range, then I don't think $180k is a bad deal.
We are under contract for a new home because it was the same price, like within $5k, of every other house we saw. Comparable size and better upgrades than some of the other homes we could have purchased.
I think it comes down to how motivated your grandpa is to sell.
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If I were him, I'd certainly counter though far lower than he's thinking. I agree with PPs that a counter of $200k is fair and shows he's willing to sell.
But trying for a close date >90 days out? He's just shooting himself in the foot there. We would never have agreed to such a long term, that just leaves so much time for something to go wrong!
I agree. If the house is outdated and needs work, it needs work and updating. I'm sure it's sentimental to your grandfather, especially if he's lived there most of his life, but you can't expect someone to buy a house for the price they attach to it because it's sentimental to them.
I had this sort of situation come up with my SIL and the house behind her. It's in a great neighborhood/school district and is listed for $140k but the house is listed at 2 bedrooms (must have closet and, I think, a window to be a bedroom and there's at least 1 room without a closet) and 1 bathroom. It has cabinets in the kitchen from the 1980s, a room full of wood paneling and 1980s dusty-blue-and-mauve wallpaper in the other rooms. I told her it wasn't worth that much and she said "you're paying for location." No, I'm paying for a house I want to live in, not overpay for and then have to drop another $10-15k updating to something from this century.
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Well since it's a condo, it is especially easy to compare it to comps. His asking price is irrelevant, and I'm guessing way off the mark since this is his first offer.
Comps are everything. Asking price means nothing. I can't even begin to tell you if it seems reasonable or not without seeing what the other condos that are exactly like his are going for.
He has lived in it for about 10 years, and it is very updated and in near perfect condition- but if you go with the new construction you get to pick everything.
I agree that an August close is crazy. I think he is overwhelmed with having to find a new place that quickly- since it has been on the market for so long, he stopped even bother to look for a new place.
He is set on that counteroffer, but depending on if they even bother to counter back (I am guessing no, lol) I am going to try to gently remind him to evaluate his priorities wrt selling and moving.
Although I do think it is reasonable for his condo- or at least he could counter in the middle at 195) you can't really say unilaterally that you can buy a nice house for 180 or that 180 is too high for a condo. Totally depends on the town/neighborhood.
I just paid more than that for a condo. It's all relative.
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Totally agree with this! In a lot of Twin Cities suburbs you won't be getting a nice house for 180k. The burb I lived in didn't have much for 180K even a condo.
On market 18 months with new condos around.
He is over priced and the buyer knows this hence the offer. That's my guess.