For the last week, I've been wrangling an offer on behalf of one of my buyers. The sellers are DB's (use your imagination) and they think it's 2004 not 2010.
Our offer came in 10K below the last sold comp. Yes, we knew it was low but it wasn't a low ball offer or 10% off list. It was 35K off list. It was risky tactic but we assumed the seller would counter with a reasonable number based on the sold comps in the area.
There were no other offers. We were the first and it had been on the market for 14 days. It was priced well but it wasn't exactly right or there would have been multiple offers. A recent post on Urban Turf indicated the highest amount of the interest a listing receives is in the first four/fives days it's on the market. I was hopeful we'd be able to come to an agreement quickly.
Instead, the sellers scoffed and countered with the list price. You read that correctly. THEY REFUSED TO NEGOTIATE AT ALL. I was flabbergasted.
My client was annoyed but the place is appealing. We came up 30K. THE SELLERS STILL DIDN'T ACCEPT IT. We're still negotiating.
I'm gobsmacked. I know nothing should surprise me anymore because real estate is a crazy world. Yet I'm astonished by this situation. It would be different if it was a short sale and the sellers HAD to sell it for list price or they would default on the loan. Except this isn't a short sale. It's a regular sale. I don't understand why a person would try to sell a property in this market and not be willing to negotiate. This is a business transaction, people. Negotiating is part of it. Get a clue.
What I really need is an intervention from Mike Aubrey from the HGTV show "Real Estate Intervention." He'd kick some seller ass and all would be well. Isn't my imaginary world interesting?
Meanwhile, in the real world, I'm waiting to hear from the listing agent to see if our last counter was accepted.
3 comments:
Ummm, aren't they smart sellers? Based on your numbers above, they rejected 5K below list and now you have counter-offered, which I presume must be list or v. close. So they are getting what they want by hanging tough and refusing to negotiate.
I would not call them smart, I would call them lucky that your buyers agreed to continue negociating with them and didn't walk away. From what I have seen, your first offer is your best offer. It's risky to dig in your heels on price when buyers offer you close to asking. Known too many sellers who kick themselves down the road when buyers walk away & no one else steps up to take there place. Good luck!
A buyer agents job is to get the best price for their client. From my point of view, they aren't smart. We're going to get our price. If we don't, we'll walk and deal with someone who will negotiate. Offers get progressively lower the more days a property is on the market. The property won't sell at list price if it hasn't already received multiple offers.
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