Insulting offer on my old house?

[edporch]

I finally got an offer on my old house. It's been up for sale about 9 months now. I realize the housing market sucks right now. We had already dropped the asking price almost 8%. The offer is almost 30% less than the already dropped price. We are now asking what we paid for the house 12 years ago plus we've easily put $15k in improvements.

I dont think I'll even entertain a counteroffer.

And when you take inflation into account, an offer of the same number of dollars you paid 12 years ago is still LESS than you paid for it in constant dollars.

I own some pieces of property free and clear, though all but one is commercial.
I'm gonna just rent them out and not consider selling any of them unless the right offer comes along.

I infer by you saying "old house", that it's sitting empty.
You might want to consider renting to the right tenant that won't trash your place. (I know, hard to find)
That way you'll at least have money coming in to cover taxes, insurance, etc. and stop the financial loss of it sitting empty.

 

[grimor]

I'm in the process of refinancing my house, with all the foreclosure sales in the area it really hurts the appraisals.

Sales Record (1) Sales Price $51,200 Date of Sale 06/30/10

Sales Record (2) Sales Price $21,500 Date of Sale 10/14/10


a much smaller house down the road from me that hopefully wouldn't be considered similar enough to be counted in an appraisal.... it's a buyers market and the people buying know it.

 

[hornadylnl]

This is the first offer I've gotten. I might counter half way.

 

[88GT]

As a Realtor and INGO member, I'm happy to give any free advice you'd like, if you want to PM me I can check your listing and give you my honest opinion.

Friend, you're skating awful close to a license law violation with that. I'm betting Mr. Hornady's Realtor is probably going to think that comes a little too close to soliciting the business of an already-listed property.

 

[joslar15]

This is the first offer I've gotten. I might counter half way.

Well, if you're lucky, they might accept it. In today's market though, I wouldn't be surprised if they countered your counter.

 

[ljadayton]

I'd LOVE to be able to buy a house and get out of this terrible apartment but I'm not sure I could even qualify for a decent house...my "dream" house has been on the market for 377 days now. I'd consider trying but I'm locked into a lease until December. If you're not losing out on anything but utilities, taxes and insurance, it's your call really whether to counteroffer (they might go for it) or to sit tight and take your chances (someone might come along who's in love with the house and has to have it). It's a gamble either way.

 

[spec4]

IMO you at least need to do a counter offer. My house took 3 years to sell. We ended up selling to a couple that low balled us at first, but came up $25K after we countered. We still took a $25K bath, but of course we low balled on our new place so it works two ways. Your first offer may well be your best offer. Plus, you get it behind you and move on with your life.

 

[hornadylnl]

Friend, you're skating awful close to a license law violation with that. I'm betting Mr. Hornady's Realtor is probably going to think that comes a little too close to soliciting the business of an already-listed property.

I didn't take his post as trying to get my business. Just offering advice. I don't have any intentions of changing realtors. Mine has the corner of the market in my area. He's done me right in the past.

 

[Martin Draco]

As already been mentioned it's a buyers market. There is no reason to get offended. If you can afford to sit on it and wait for more money you should but I would lease it out for a while and hope the housing market rebounds a bit. The longer you keep it on the market the less interest you will have in the home. You get what's called a "stale listing". I have had good luck using a leasing company to lease some of my properties and sell them for me. Usually by the end of a 1 year lease they have it sold and I come out money ahead because I've collected a year of lease. If you want the number for the leasing company PM me. They're great to deal with and will work with your current agent.

 

[88GT]

I didn't take his post as trying to get my business. Just offering advice. I don't have any intentions of changing realtors. Mine has the corner of the market in my area. He's done me right in the past.

doesn't matter what you think. Doesn't matter if you have any intentions of changing. License law governs a licensee's behavior, not the perceptions of sellers. But if your Realtor thinks so, he can file a complaint against him. I'm just trying to keep him out of hot water.

 

[bigus_D]

Sold my old house last year for my asking price in one week. Got out what I had in it (purchase price plus improvements). It was in B-ripple so real estate is still. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.

 

[melensdad]

I finally got an offer on my old house. It's been up for sale about 9 months now.
. . .
I dont think I'll even entertain a counteroffer.

I had a commercial building for sale. Got offers in the range of $1.6 to $1.8 million for it. I finally accepted an offer for nearly double those offers. Should close the sale in the next couple of months.

Because there are so many distressed properties on the market today even people with viable properties that are not distressed have to deal with jerks.

One thing that I do know about real estate, especially houses, is that if you ask too much for the house you ultimately have the house sit on the market and ultimately actually get LOWER prices. I don't know the value of your home or the asking price, but the last small property I sold was sold in less than a week. My real estate agent told me what to list it for and gave me an idea what I should accept. I ignored the agent. I looked at a dozen similar properties for sale within 6 blocks, very slightly undercut their prices, sold the property for cash and actually doubled my money on the property.

In another deal that we did not too long ago I partnered with another agent, bought a property from a bank, sold it in 90 days for a $42K profit that was split with the broker.

The R.E. market is very fluid and you can make a ton of money right now, you can also lose a bundle too. Properties can be sold for FAIR to HIGH prices, as my pending commercial deal proves. Marketing your property is more important than anything else.

Just a little trick, but everytime someone comes in to see your home have your wife make some homemade chocolate chip cookies JUST BEFORE they arrive. That wonderful smell fills the house and makes it feel like home. Remember you are selling your home to the wife of next homeowner.

 

[hornadylnl]

doesn't matter what you think. Doesn't matter if you have any intentions of changing. License law governs a licensee's behavior, not the perceptions of sellers. But if your Realtor thinks so, he can file a complaint against him. I'm just trying to keep him out of hot water.

If you were genuinely concerned about the temperature of water he's in, why didn't you send him a pm instead of publically casting aspersions? You seem to be a big fan of getting the government out of regulating healthcare, how about the real estate industry?

I happen to be a good electrician and pretty good at construction but I rarely offer help here. If I do, as sure as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow, a "licensed" person will be along to tell everyone that I don't have the requisite licenses, permits, qualifications, etc. And we wonder why people aren't neighborly any more.

 

[Lucas156]

I'm just trying to keep him out of hot water.

Riiigggghhhht

 

[Fishersjohn48]

right now you are lucky to even break even. we sold a property for a loss just to dump it before it became a bigger loss. when we bought our new/used house, we bought one we knew needed work but one that we (even in this market) had instant equity. Also we didnt look for a house bigger than what we would need for a few years, because we want to purchase property in the country still.

if you feel you can justify the cost of maintaining a second property then do it and hold out for the market to bound back.

real estate is still a better investment than a 401k right now.

edit: I wouldnt be insulted by any offer right now. I would look at it as hope. at least someone finds your property desirable. in the end any property is only worth what someone takes for it, so I dont think you can be mad at a buyer for trying to see how bad you wanna get rid of an empty house. 2-cents

go look at some of the auction prices and it will blow your mind! thats where to go and buy property!

How can you say that real estate is better than a 401k? Depending on your employer you may be getting a % match that is instant earnings. If your 401k is not earning you 10-15% or better than you should reinvest. I can't tell you of anyone that is making money on a real estate investment right now unless your last name is Trump.

Granted, the market has been up and down but earnings have far exceeded losses over the 25 or so years that I have been investing in a 401k. 6.5% net increase in the first quarter is better than any real estate holdings.

 

[88GT]

If you were genuinely concerned about the temperature of water he's in, why didn't you send him a pm instead of publically casting aspersions? You seem to be a big fan of getting the government out of regulating healthcare, how about the real estate industry?

I happen to be a good electrician and pretty good at construction but I rarely offer help here. If I do, as sure as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow, a "licensed" person will be along to tell everyone that I don't have the requisite licenses, permits, qualifications, etc. And we wonder why people aren't neighborly any more.

Fine. Next time I'll just keep quiet and let him step on his dick and hope for the best. No skin off my back.

How can you say that real estate is better than a 401k? Depending on your employer you may be getting a % match that is instant earnings. If your 401k is not earning you 10-15% or better than you should reinvest. I can't tell you of anyone that is making money on a real estate investment right now unless your last name is Trump.

I'm making money. But my income isn't tied to value. That might be the difference.

 

[gunman41mag]

I finally got an offer on my old house. It's been up for sale about 9 months now. I realize the housing market sucks right now. We had already dropped the asking price almost 8%. The offer is almost 30% less than the already dropped price. We are now asking what we paid for the house 12 years ago plus we've easily put $15k in improvements.

I dont think I'll even entertain a counteroffer.

W H Y sell, rent your house,You can count on having rent money every month

 

[BigGuyinMuncie]

I work as a Maintenance Supervisor for a property management company and we have investors from all over the county buying properties in Central Indiana because of the low property values. Times are tough and with the banks making it harder for the "average joe" to get a loan, it just drives the median home price down. Run down houses still sell for rundown prices and over priced homes are still over priced. The ones truly feeling the pinch are the people in the nicer homes in the middle range. Sadly

 

[femurphy77]

How long can you afford to sit on it? It's all up to you, I sold a house 2 1/2 years ago, right when the market crashed. It cost me a BIG chunk of change but thae alternatives to me were even worse than pushing that check across the table at closing.

 

[BigGuyinMuncie]

W H Y sell, rent your house,You can count on having rent money every month

Just make sure to run a credit check on the person or persons that you are renting to. You can do so online for a small fee. Would not hurt to run a back ground check as well. Another thing you can do online for a reasonable price. Gotta love technology. Everything about EVERYBODY, is on the web