Who's low-balled on a house?

I submitted a lowball offer once on a house in... get this... BERKLEY MA.

It was a raised ranch that needed work, and they were asking $199,000 back in 2010. It was also a foreclosure, so there was trash and all sorts of junk on the lot, and the front stairs were all screwed up so it was hard to get in and out. We liked the house and the lot, but with all the work it needed, we offered about $170,000. They rejected the offer.

Fast forward a few weeks, and New England was getting absolutely pounded by rain storms. The house, which was down a hill from the street, ended up flooding so bad that water was coming out of the front door. On a split-level raised ranch. After that happened, the bank of course called asking about that offer we put in, and seeing if we wanted to buy the place. Uhh... nope! We would have been so berked if we bought that place!

Appleseed wrote: $200,000+ for what amounts to a lot with a pile of garbage roughly shaped like a house is preposterous. Be careful.

Location, location, location. There are empty lots that are over our price range. The house that we're looking at tomorrow is a nice brick ranch that hasn't been updated in 20 years. Downside is that it is on a busy street. Upside is that the lot is gigantic, and it is now one of very few original houses. They're throwing up McMansions all around it that take up the whole lot and go for $600k to $1.2Mil.

mtn wrote: The realtor who showed us the house (works at the same small agency as the selling agent) said she thought it was worth about $270k.

dont listen to a realtor when it comes to you making an offer on a house, they always seem to think its worth a few grand more then what you want to offer. We about changed realtors when we put on offer on our house because she fought us on how much the offer should be and suprise... they accepted my offer which saved us a few grand over what the realtor wanted us to offer. just offer whatever you would want to pay for it.

they are almost as bad as car salesmen

logdog wrote: This forum has taught me that people who lowball on houses are shrewd business people. People who lowball on Craiglist cars are jerks.

If you send a text message offer for 10% of asking price without asking any other questions or coming to look at the house, you are also a jerk.

I only do that to houses that have "worst I can say is no" somewhere in the ad.

I lowballed on 2 houses, and both times my offer was immediatly accepted. Surprised the heck out of me, but I wasnt complaining!

pinchvalve wrote: I lowballed on 2 houses, and both times my offer was immediatly accepted. Surprised the heck out of me, but I wasnt complaining!

What was lowballing? Offering $100 on an asking of $115? Or $250 on an asking of $300?

That's the funny part. In the high-dollar market, it's not uncommon for offers to be 50k-100k below asking, even on homes as low as 399.

As they say, it's much easier to get a big home for a reasonable price than it is a cheap one for a bargain.

That would be a good thing until you lose your job and that big house is hard to afford.

I still hope to someday own a modest house with a big garage and MIL-Suite above it that I rent out.

I did it once. I knew that the male owner had just died and his wife was in a nursing home(was renting a few blocks away and saw and talkked to them when wife and I went on walks in the evening).

When the house went on the market I called the realtor immediately. They wanted $45K and I offered $42K. They accepted.

That was back in 1976. We still live in the house and the tax appraisal this year is for $350K!!

We lowballed on our current place.

When I finally hit the lowest price they would accept I started asking them to throw in furniture and other items around the house that I thought I might want, ended up with a huge $10k couch for asking. My realtor said that nobody had ever done that before.

When we bought our house it was empty and was owned by Fannie Mae. It was listed for $99,900. We did a little digging and it had been listed with a realtor for almost 6 months. We were getting the run around and couldn't figure out why. After all, once 6 months comes and goes, the houses usually go up for auction and the realtor looses their possible commission, or at least thats how I remember it. My step father was a realtor at the time so we ended having him chase the people at Fannie Mae directly and we put in an offer of $75K. 3 weeks to a month later they counter with 82,500 and we take it immediately. Here's where it gets dicey. Rep from Fannie Mae tells us after we accept on the phone that in the last 3 weeks they had a second offer for 82.5 and thats why they countered. If we had flinched or offered lower again, they would have sold to the other bidder. Here's were it gets downright dishonest. Turns out the lady living across the street was a realtor and worked at the office that was repping the house for Fannie Mae. She wanted the house for her daughter. Thats why we were getting the run around from the repping agent. That was the first time I saw dishonesty in a real estate agent, but certainly not the first time. That whole code of conduct and disclosure thing is a bunch of crap in my opinion to them. As a plumber I get called in to fix things and have second looks at things that come up on home inspections at least once a month. Dangle a commission in front of one of those sharks and they will tell you whatever story that have to to make a sale. The daughter who wanted to buy my house 25 years ago, is now a realtor herself and I've had several run ins with her and called her out in front of clients more than once.

In reply to tr8todd:

Like mother, like daughter, eh? Care to elaborate on some of these run-ins with her? It could be helpful to some here, to get real-world examples of realtor dishonesty so they can spot the shennanigans when they occur.

On my current house it was listed at 120 and hadn't sold for a while (circa 2011). I offered 100 and agreed to 105. Not tremendously lowball but at the closing the seller walked away with $475. Heck, I got more money for buying it than she did selling.

Lesson here is to be careful refinancing and "cashing out". She had lived there and made payments for 25 years just to break even on the whole deal.

I had a condo for 7 years. I put it up for sale in 2009. It finally sold in 2011 all the while the housing market crashing. I owned 30% of the actual house compared to what I paid for it.
I sold it for 25% less than I paid for it. I lost my ass but was happy to see it go and equally happy (and willing/capable) to write a check to make it go away.

In retrospect, I did the math and even considering mortgage payments and improvements to the place the ownership of the place cost me about $800 for every month I owned it. Had I rented the same place it would have cost me over $1k per month. Looking at it that way, I still won...slightly.

Our house was listed for $151k and had been recently lowered to $145k. This was in late 2009 when things had kinda stagnated around our area. Our realtor discussed with their realtor the likelihood of an offer "in the 130's" being accepted. Didn't know that was a thing. Their realtor said sure, write it up. So we submitted an offer of literally $130k on the dot + closing costs. They countered with $137.5k + closing and we took it, that's what we were going for.

I thought that was reasonable all around but based on this thread it was quite a lowball.

RedGT wrote: Our house was listed for $151k and had been recently lowered to $145k. This was in late 2009 when things had kinda stagnated around our area. Our realtor discussed with their realtor the likelihood of an offer "in the 130's" being accepted. Didn't know that was a thing. Their realtor said sure, write it up. So we submitted an offer of literally $130k on the dot + closing costs. They countered with $137.5k + closing and we took it, that's what we were going for. I thought that was reasonable all around but based on this thread it was quite a lowball.

See, I'm looking at a house tonight and I will wait to "value" it until I see it... But it started at $300, dropped to $289, and just dropped again yesterday (Wednesday the 6th) to $285. We scheduled a viewing on Tuesday the 5th. Hmmm...

It has been for sale for over 3 months, really nothing other than appliances has been updated in the last 20 years. It sold in 1989 for $135. At a 2% inflation rate since then it should be worth $230. Comparing comps in the area that have sold in the last year, I think it is worth only about $250. And that is before I find out anything with the furnace, water heater, etc. If it is anything like my grandparents home (this is owned by a trust) then they haven't been replaced.

Is offering $230 out of line? What about $250? Of course none of this really means anything until I've seen it and the Bank has had it appraised. The lot itself is probably worth about $200k.

ssswitch wrote: We lowballed on our current place. When I finally hit the lowest price they would accept I started asking them to throw in furniture and other items around the house that I thought I might want, ended up with a huge $10k couch for asking. My realtor said that nobody had ever done that before.

This is also a great technique, if you actually want the stuff. I know of people who have scored big screen TVs, pool tables, couches, etc for next to free. AND YOU DONT HAVE TO MOVE THEM!!!

If the seller wants to take some appliances, they can usually be convinced to leave them for almost no money.

Robbie wrote:

ssswitch wrote: We lowballed on our current place. When I finally hit the lowest price they would accept I started asking them to throw in furniture and other items around the house that I thought I might want, ended up with a huge $10k couch for asking. My realtor said that nobody had ever done that before.

This is also a great technique, if you actually want the stuff. I know of people who have scored big screen TVs, pool tables, couches, etc for next to free. AND YOU DONT HAVE TO MOVE THEM!!! If the seller wants to take some appliances, they can usually be convinced to leave them for almost no money.

If you've ever had to move a pool table, you would understand why they usually sell with the house at little/no cost .

Never again.

In reply to Furious_E:

Oh yeah, I know. Pianos are much the same way.

Robbie wrote: In reply to Furious_E: Oh yeah, I know. Pianos are much the same way.

Oh I can imagine. I know my dad and uncle were not pleased when Grandma refused to leave hers behind in New Hampshire, only to be broken on the trip to PA anyways.

mtn wrote: See, I'm looking at a house tonight and I will wait to "value" it until I see it... But it started at $300, dropped to $289, and just dropped again yesterday (Wednesday the 6th) to $285. We scheduled a viewing on Tuesday the 5th. Hmmm... It has been for sale for over 3 months, really nothing other than appliances has been updated in the last 20 years. It sold in 1989 for $135.

So its taken them 3-months to drop merely $15,000? That tells me they aren't in any hurry.

What have similar properties sold for nearby? More than likely they are basing their values off of that. If the all the neighbors have sold for 300+, they are holding out to meet the Jones'. They just might not realize the house is in a lot worse shape than their neighbors.

I'd probably shoot for 260-270 to bring them to the table, then use an inspection+estimates to bring it down 10k.

PHeller wrote:

mtn wrote: See, I'm looking at a house tonight and I will wait to "value" it until I see it... But it started at $300, dropped to $289, and just dropped again yesterday (Wednesday the 6th) to $285. We scheduled a viewing on Tuesday the 5th. Hmmm... It has been for sale for over 3 months, really nothing other than appliances has been updated in the last 20 years. It sold in 1989 for $135.

So its taken them 3-months to drop merely $15,000? That tells me they aren't in any hurry. What have similar properties sold for nearby? More than likely they are basing their values off of that. If the all the neighbors have sold for 300+, they are holding out to meet the Jones'. They just might not realize the house is in a lot worse shape than their neighbors. I'd probably shoot for 260-270 to bring them to the table, then use an inspection+estimates to bring it down 10k.

I'm wondering the same thing--it is sitting empty, owned by a trust (not sure if the people who lived there are dead or not), wouldn't you want to just get out?

Anyways, the houses around it have sold for $250 to $700. The most comparable house that sold was on a smaller lot, better location, and the house was better overall IMHO.

Watching with interest. Wife and I just moved into a rental house. Looking at Zillow, the landlord bought it for $24k and put $6k into renovations. Zillow page, before improvements. The landlord mentioned being open to selling it to us after the lease. He is in it for $30k, I think $35k is a fair offer, maybe as high as $40k.

Brian wrote: Watching with interest. Wife and I just moved into a rental house. Looking at Zillow, the landlord bought it for $24k and put $6k into renovations. Zillow page, before improvements. The landlord mentioned being open to selling it to us after the lease. He is in it for $30k, I think $35k is a fair offer, maybe as high as $40k.

That house would rent for about $2000 where I live, and it would be a teardown where I'm looking at buying.

I won't say I lowballed. I did however get what I offered on it. I offered 18% below the asking. The realtor was acting on both I moved from out of state and never had an issue with it. I told him that I liked the house, but it was not worth in my mind what they were asking.

I made it clear that I offered that amount and thats it. We got the house and it worked out for us. Like others have said, if you communicate your reasoning, it may go well.

My dad had a house worth $390,000 and I made him sell it for $355,000 to another family in the 'hood.

It WOULD be $390,000 but it needed a $20,000 roof and the entire house was stuck in 1972. It needed a complete kitchen, 3 new bathrooms, 8 rooms of wallpaper removal, and 2 rooms with sweet wood paneling and the basement was musty and funky. The hardwood floors in every room were carpeted over and would be sweet if redone. Every window and door was original to the house. So I made my dad low ball the listing price.