Not agreeing to a counter offer

amother

Wed, Aug 13 2014, 11:16 pm

My husband and I looked at a home that was listed at around 310,000 and needed from what we saw alot of work done not even with inspection done yet. We offered 285,000 and received back a counter offer of 295,000. I am assuming they would of wanted us to counter offer and settle at 290. There is a lot of work to be done and we feel like it is just not worth the extra few thousand dollars of a sale price knowing of the pending work to be done. Has anyone refused a counter offer and gotten a house just base on their initial offer. We told them final offer and I am not sure if we will regret this one. Once offer contract is nulled can we reapproach them in a few weeks with another offer? It has been listed for a very long time.
Feeling sad.

PAMOM

Wed, Aug 13 2014, 11:22 pm

You need to make them feel they're not "losing." You can meet them in the middle but have the offer contingent on an inspection satisfactory to the buyer . That gives you huge flexibility depending in what the inspection shows. For example, after the inspection, you can ask that they fix x , y , and z and if they won't, you still have negotiating space. Ask your realtor.

amother

Wed, Aug 13 2014, 11:34 pm

The initial offer was "as is" contigency meaning we could back out after an unsatisfactory inspection but they are not required to put any money into the repairs. We also did not ask for them to split any closing costs with us. We would either agree to cover all repairs or null the contract. The realtor said we were making the right decision with final offer but the more I read about it the more I see negotiating is really expected from both buyer and seller. Now I regret not coming in at 280 and then counter offering to 285. Now I am just hoping they are desperate enough not to want to pay another mortgage payment while the house just sits there.

amother

Wed, Aug 13 2014, 11:47 pm

It can just be the mazel that you are supposed to get a house...

We offered an amount a few thou less than s/o had offered a week before. But we said we don't need them to leave the washer/dryer/refrigerator as we have our own. These were not worth the difference but for some reason the house was bashert for us & they took our offer.

ElTam

Thu, Aug 14 2014, 12:36 am

How much do you want the house? $10,000 over a 30 year mortgage at today's rates is $50 more a month. If you split the difference, that's $5,000, or $25 a month over the life of the mortgage. It's up to you to decide if that's worth it.

amother

Thu, Aug 14 2014, 1:09 am

It is one of the first houses we looked at but not many come up in our price range. Our realtor made it clear that at this price we will not find a bigger home but may find a signifigantly smaller home but in better condition. My husband wants size and I am unsure of what I want. I wouldn't cry if house got away, but I would be happy if we got it. Its a fixer upper so I did not walk in and have my breathe taken away. Could we resubmit an offer if the house is still available in a month?

PAMOM

Thu, Aug 14 2014, 4:37 am

Absolutely you can resubmit but why not counter with a differently arranged offer if they reject this one? The amount can be the same but with different terms. Be absolutely sure to get an inspection, and try not to make the inspection contingency "as is" unless you're agent had avrely good reason. You're getting rid of necessary bargaining points. What if everything is good enough except for one major problem? Their insurance might cover it ( termite insurance for ex).

amother

Thu, Aug 14 2014, 6:03 am

Op here,
They purchased the home around 4 years ago for 330,000 and therefore the realtor feels due to such a loss they do not have much wiggle room for negotiations regarding price. It would be a 45 thousand dollar loss for them in a short amount of time. She did leave in part regarding termites and 2% of house cost for repairs.

PAMOM

Thu, Aug 14 2014, 7:21 am

In that case, you got good advice. The extra money in the purchase price will be almost nothing over the length of your mortgage.
Let us know what happens!

penguin

Thu, Aug 14 2014, 1:24 pm

Can you accept their offer contingent on the house inspection, where, they don't have to agree to go down in price based on inspection (I'm just assuming that's what meant by 'as is') but you have the right to withdraw the offer if the inspection shows repairs needed greater than X?

How would anyone be willing to buy a house as is? Almost any contract I've seen you have some number of days to inspect and back out.

Of course, they may not agree, since they'd rather not be tied up with your offer when s/o else could offer a better scenario.

amother

Thu, Aug 14 2014, 1:32 pm

There was always that contingency in the offer, that we could back out if we found inspection unsatisfactory. Now we sit and wait Sad