marisakay Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 as some of u know we made an offer on a house we REALLY LIKE, well our realtor called today and said they counteroffered. She said they said it has only been on the market one week and they don't want to jump on the first offer. It is still a great deal and we want the house. But question, if we counteroffer again, and say someone else steps in and offers more, then is that it???? or would they come back to us and ask us if we can match em? any ideas? we would hate the thought of losing this house because we tried to get it a little cheaper, you know?thanks everyone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura66 Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 It depends on your local market. We are in Southern California, and bidding wars are common. Houses will often go for OVER the list price. We have lost 2 homes during the counteroffer phase; the most recent one we were only squabbling over terms of escrow. Someone came in and bid $5000 over asking and that was that. I'm sure your broker gave you neighborhood comps, so review those and take it from there! Good luck! Let us know what happens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 We had 2 totally different experiances on buying a house with bidding.The first one, was locked, he would not negotiate for nothing, no counter bid, just stuck with his asking price. And this house had been on market for 1 1/2 years maybe more.The second one, only counter bid, by $2500 and still did not cover the closing cost that would to be included in our bid. Plus he threw in extras we did not expect. Went great, we bidded on the house the day before it even got listed. So he in the end had us promise half of what he was giving up for closing.Wish you the best, with you bid, but be sure that you review your expenses, and if you are comfortable with taking this if you consider that, or want to try for counter bid. I hated that myself, was always, trying to get more information to get a feel for the person, hard to do when we never met them until the very end at closing.[Edit by kb9tbq on [TIME]1056770127[/TIME]] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzy Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 When we were looking for a house, I fell in love with a home that was perfect for me. They wanted 79,000.00 for it. I loved it so much we bid 78,000.00. Well at the same time another couple bid 81,000.00 CASH there went my house. I was heart broken. The house we did buy was 85,000.00 we bid 80,000.00 and they took it. We went FHA and put down a little under 4,000.00. I hated this house but my husband liked the fact it had new windows, furnace, large yard, new basement walls, and a new sump pump.We have been here 5 years and our agent can not believe it is the same house. I have friends that have been bidding on homes for the past 2 months and she finally decided to give up. She is too stressed out with counter bidding everytime she finds a home she likes.I was told by my dad to bid 5,000.00 less then what they are asking and it worked for us. Good luck! Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoonyNix Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 If someone counteroffers, and you accept the terms before they withdraw their counteroffer, you have a valid contract. What typically happens here in Texas is a seller will decline your offer, and respond with a document that says "but if you make the following changes to your offer, perhaps the seller will accept it: raise contract price to $XXXX. seller to pay $XXX towards buyers closing costs. etc"One other thing you should really consider marisakay. You made your offer through the listing agent. she wants you to get the house because she will get a full commission. if another buyer steps in (who is using their own agent) the listing agent will have to split that commission. my guess is if the listing agent gets a better offer from another agent's clients, she will call you and ask if you want to make another offer.jasonrei@msn.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 Funny you mentioned that, not having an understanding of these things. I called the homeowners agent in the first case, I wanted to hear first hand what she thought was going to be acceptable in the matter.But the real problem was between the both our agents deciding to conduct bidding war and not telling me the guy was in the hospital on his death bed!!! I personally felt this made him a bit less coopertive in the matter, and after a bit, I started to see by his actions a bit of his attitude. Never bidding before, we leaned heavily on our agents advice as to how things should go against my better judgement. * I still believe and will rely on my intuition in matters.Well we looked at a 2nd house, but another agent stepped in temp to show us, totally blew us out of the water how much she cared to point out flaws and talk to us giving tips on what we should look for. So we passed on the house even though it was nice, too much foundation problems with a house, in a tornado zone, 3rd house we tried going back to ask for the 2nd agent, they definitely would not let that happen, only the 1st one called back. Believe me her attitude changed greatly by the next time we put in for bidding, and that is why we got such a good deal on the second house. She ended up being selling and bidding agent. So for one thing, don't let them agents run over you on their power games, let them know they best look out for your best interest in the matter![Edit by kb9tbq on [TIME]1056813411[/TIME]] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoonyNix Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 Every week I'm in a situation where a seller has received multiple offers on a house and wants "highest and best" offers by 5pm on a certain day. But you know, if I don't know where I stand in relation to others, I'll stand firm on my offer, might tweak it a couple G's either way. Truth is there are soooooooo many houses for sale, why get all worked up over one? One thing I don't understand, though, is when someone finds a house that fits their needs just right, and is in their desired price range, and is priced well, why risk losing it over a few grand? A home isn't an investment, it's a place to live. If you are buying a house because you "don't want to make some landlord rich", or you "want to pay towards my future", or "you're tired of flushing money down the toilet in rent", you are making an illogical decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 In our case for the 1st house, it was out of our comfortable means we were looking at $60,000 absolute top, really like the house, but his difference was $5,000. So we let it go, since I was not comfortable in taxing our income that hard.The second house, we got for $55,000, which put us at under $500 per month, that I could live with, since I had worked months, just freeing up the extra money, not to be going over our current cost of living. So in some cases, that few G's, to lower income people can really make quite a difference. And I really wanted a home, to have of my own, and to get as a financial stepping stone, for later investment when I might hopefully get a loan towards bying a business. So to me it was to improve my credit for later use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura66 Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 $60000 for a house? I think we need to move out of California! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 My DH was out in California & told me of the terrible cost for housing out there, but the cost of living is great here, but you trade off income here. I still think it is worth being here then there though - except for the cold winters sometimes & snow, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marisakay Posted June 28, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 thanks all for the input....the agents are 2 diff people tho they are in the same realty office. we counteroffered back 2500 less what they offered. looks like they will prob take it, but know the lady who owns it isnt sure if she can afford the new house she wants!!! it is crazy! so she is going to the bank Mon morning to make sure if she gives us what we want for it, she is good for this next house. Both realtors agreed that the house will not be shown and since we are negotiating, WE will get first dibs, which is a sigh of relief. i am just trying to forget about it until Mon and hopefully I get a good call! By the way we are in Ohio and for a pretty decent house in a decent neighborhood you pay about 70-80,000. this house is in a great neighborhood, old home, but has some updates, and it is in 60's. we wanted to buy a house right around 60,000. so this would be perfect, crossing our fingers!!! by the way we have been living w DH's father for the past yr in order to save up for a house and repair our credit, that is why we are buying a house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 Holy Moley!! Houses for 60,000-80,000??????? I can't touch ANYTHING for less than 130,000 in my area...and thats just a small town-house type property! Then again...I think I might be living in paradise......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newstart18 Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 If you're getting a decent house in a good neighborhood for 60K, you're doing good by any standard. Unfortunately, home ownership is the only "investment" many people have, and with anywhere from 60K to 300K or even more at stake, "as an investment" is the only smart way to look at buying a home. Liking the home, being happy in it, etc. are all givens in home buying. Getting something priced right that will appreciate in value is not always a given. What sounds crazy in your case is that the seller listed her home without even knowing if she's qualified to buy another one. Now that's crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capepuffin Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 We were approved for 132K through Chase. The asking price on our house we wanted was 145K. So I put in a bid of 125K! They came back with $135K. I offered 130K and I told them that was as high as I could go. They called me back and accepted! That was 5 years ago. Our house is now worth 360K! Talk about an investment! We lucked out! The woman who owned the house originaly wasn't to bright, neither was her realtor! We were the first to bid on the house and the last. We are in one of the most desirable locations in our town. We're even on a golf course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 See know I know what you can do for a living; sell you services of bidding on prime houses. Got very good deal closed for $55,500 that included closing cost.Nicer than any house I have ever lived in prior - so I am really happy with it.I don't look at it as an investment for value / just wanted a house to settle down in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capepuffin Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 Now I want to move to SC. and buy a house for like 250K and actually have money to pay all of my new CC's and buy a car. Marisa has gotten awfully bouncy lately! ~0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newstart18 Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 Capepuffin.....130K to 360K in 5 years?? WOW!!!!!!!!! THAT is awesome! How did you get a house where you live for 130K? I guess you already answered that one......bought from "not too bright"! 250K in SC will probably get you a mansion to live in, after you find your next "sucker" to buy from! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marisakay Posted June 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 lol...my husband changed my avatat and just told me...this is the first i have seen it!! AWWW i am bouncy!! I will be changing that soon! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capepuffin Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 <blockquote>Originally posted by newstart18Capepuffin.....130K to 360K in 5 years?? WOW!!!!!!!!! THAT is awesome! How did you get a house where you live for 130K? I guess you already answered that one......bought from "not too bright"! 250K in SC will probably get you a mansion to live in, after you find your next "sucker" to buy from! </blockquote>The house did need alot of fixing up. Nothing major but it just looked like crap! The woman who owned it prior to us did nothing to it. She didn't even clean it! The outside looked horrible. The neighbors were so happy when we moved in and fixed it all up! The prices where I live have skyrocketed in the last couple of years. I can't beleive it myself! ~0 Marisa thats funny! Your DH changed it on you! I think its cute! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newstart18 Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 I've seen that one too many times now, what's a DH???? (Pardon my cluelessness here, just curious!) BTW, how do you add those avatars to your posts?? Is it easy to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 DH means one or two things Dear Husband or Darn Husband... a few others of your choice, lolUp in the bar you will see User Cp in there is the avatar entry for adding link to a picture. You just right click on the picture and save, then in the avatar box, right click and past. Has to be a link on the web for the animations to work.There are a few different sites, but doing a search should run you into some in no time, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newstart18 Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 Thanks kb! My first thought was one of the "few others"...... By the way, CONGRATS on the house, hope all is going well w/ it.....I just posted something in the general section about PMI on mortgages, it might be of interest if you plan on staying in the house for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 Ok - thanks much & have fun with your avatar search Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newstart18 Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 kb, obviously I'm a doofus, or a DH (one of your other meanings!)....I can't get the avatar thing to work....you type in the website that links to the pic you want as the avatar, right? Then you go to that site and save the pic you want, is that right? And...then...you....uh, just another stooopid, clueles man here :? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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