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Trying to Purchase a Home in COVID-19 - Continually Lose Out, with Offers over Asking Price?

geekette

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Wowee! And?!!!
Too low to consider, less than I paid 20 years ago. Honestly, that was still standing outside, which is at this point quite overgrown. She could easily have assumed that I trashed the interior .... but, no, she very much liked the hardwoods that are in the original 4 rooms. She didn't make another offer after seeing the inside, but did ask me to find out if my mortgage was assumable and to call her to let her know. I would certainly let her son in to take a look, if he is actually interested. He is a respiratory therapist and this location is very near many great hospital systems, and 3 minutes from the interstate so could be at several other hospitals within 20 minutes.... but could be that mama bear is wanting baby bear near and he has no intention of living down the street from his mother ....

She used to be in real estate, urges me to use a realtor, that it would be worth it. I said no, I had my long time guy out here and he is looking for lowball fast and I'm not desperate. Seriously, I should take a bath for the convenience of a realtor? His idea was more than 50k less than Zillow is saying!!!! why would I do that? Then commission and closing costs... puts me far behind the 8 ball vs very much above water on a sweet piece of land walking distance to an organic dairy and a brand new organic farm (with alpacas). Especially when he wants me to hire a landscaper, power wash everything, replace that, do this... no way. I don't hafta nothing for a cash buyer, didn't even have to send the dog outside.

This place is not for everyone, it would be a nuisance listing for a realtor, waiting for the person that it's right for (we bought this vacant home 7 months into its listing....) Plus, all the stuff he'd want me to do (time, effort, money). I totally get it, he doesn't want a listing that could languish for months, and while it's not his money and sweat going into it, why should he limit the requests that cause that for me?? There are hoops to jump through in traditional home sale and I don't happen to want to jump through them. This is not a normal home, these are not normal times, and I have never been normal.

I think the "cash buyer" thing is not well understood (I'm new to it, too, and digging it). She didn't seem to understand that I have had several in here, that "for show" doesn't mean for me what a normal listing would mean.
 

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We looked at a house this weekend that had an open house. Per my RE agent, they already had a full price offer at 629K. It was in line with the value that Zillow had for the house. However, they thought they could get more. We got there about 15 mins after the open house started. There were 4 parties ahead of us (only 2 parties in the house at a time due to COVID). By the time we left there was an additional 6 or 7 parties waiting to go in. Quite a few of them seemed to be flippers.

Even though I like a lot about the house, we were not interested. They had both rabbits and dogs in the house with carpeting on the stairs and entire 2nd floor and it kinda skeezed us out. In addition, there is a township sewer easement in the middle of yard (never saw that before). I have no doubt that someone will make an above asking price offer.

Joe
 

geekette

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We looked at a house this weekend that had an open house. Per my RE agent, they already had a full price offer at 629K. It was in line with the value that Zillow had for the house. However, they thought they could get more. We got there about 15 mins after the open house started. There were 4 parties ahead of us (only 2 parties in the house at a time due to COVID). By the time we left there was an additional 6 or 7 parties waiting to go in. Quite a few of them seemed to be flippers.

Even though I like a lot about the house, we were not interested. They had both rabbits and dogs in the house with carpeting on the stairs and entire 2nd floor and it kinda skeezed us out. In addition, there is a township sewer easement in the middle of yard (never saw that before). I have no doubt that someone will make an above asking price offer.

Joe
City sewer easement in the middle of the yard?? I have never seen that, either. Yuck? buried tanks?

My well pit is in my driveway, in front of my garage. It used to be a shared well, info in the deed about my house paying elec, that house paying maintenance.

I think the list of unusual things possible are endless.

My grandparents had a lake cottage with exterior doors and windows on the inside, so it's not that weird to me that I have the same thing here. It can happen, or not, when a place is added onto. Surely cheaper to leave a window or door than make it a wall. handy, too!

It remains unusual for other people, but when I point out the benefits of being able to close a room off with the sliding glass door, close the open parts of the bay window, close the French doors, it stops being weird and gets helpful. It was a perfect situation when I had a husband that was a singer songwriter. He could be in his glass "office" and I could catch his eye for when dinner was ready but not actually interrupt him, or have to wait for a song to end before knocking. It was also nice to have "an office" with easy exit to car right outside for loading amps, etc. Someone with a home business will like having 'a business entrance' and not allow them into the rest of the home.

My place is funky, people love it or hate it. When we saw it, we loved it. Maybe I can get Pete the Peacock to return to my deck, as seeing him all puffed out when we came thru, we found him charming. I do like to point out the hawk's nest, as I show them deference and they treat me with up close views of them.

I had another neighbor stop by about an hour ago. Didn't know I was selling, just taking her sister from FL around, looking to see if any small homes were for sale... I opened the door and said, sure, wanna come in? Warned them that I was going cash buyer and not at all in traditional Show Ready state and place in massive disarray...

Somehow, planets are finding alignment for me. Not sure what is special about today, but, OK, why not expect a third drop by neighbor buyer??
 

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I was anti Realtor when I sold my Son's house for him but finally gave a persistent one a shot for 3 months. Turns out the 6% commission I paid was well worth it. A number of reasons. First is that he talked me into listing it for more than I thought it was worth which eventually it sold for. Second, by putting it on his firm's website and MLS he ginned up traffic. And this is the funny one. A Buyer's Agent got involved. He actually was the one who kept the deal alive as he was desperate for his half of the 6% commission. Because of the Realtors the house sold more quickly and if one is making Mortgage Payments, time is money. All in all the 6% commission I paid was worth every penny...

George
 
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geekette

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I was anti Realtor when I sold my Son's house for him but finally gave a persistent one a shot for 3 months. Turns out the 6% commission I paid was well worth it. A number of reasons. First is that he talked me into listing it for more than I thought it was worth which eventually it sold for. Second, by putting it on his firm's website he ginned up traffic. And this is the funny one. A Buyer's Agent got involved. He actually was the one who kept the deal alive as he was desperate for his half of the 6% commission. Because of the Realtors the house sold more quickly and if one is making Mortgage Payments, time is money. All in all the 6% commission I paid was worth every penny...

George
I might agree for a normal house in a normal neighborhood that any normal family could like. this ain't that.

Here, it would have to be a listing agent that actually understands this area and not into speed at my cost. the arm twist put on me to lowball soured that deal for me, I won't be using my preferred agent. If someone comes along and understands the address they are selling, my low property taxes vs if I were a mere 3 blocks north, and why people might enjoy rustic charm in historic district with lots of nature, sure, I'd list with someone that is looking to help me make money, vs, turn it fast and cheap.

I am doing pretty well without any rep, this is 5 people through already, 2 low unacceptable offers, 2 expected by end of tomorrow, and maybe the second neighbor through today makes an offer... or the son of the lady that made an offer here earlier...

I don't need someone else to generate bidding war, I've got that ball rolling all by myself... and I don't need to give anyone a cut of that nor have closing costs diminish it. Plus, I will give first and second shot to next door neighbor, and my doctor that has grandparents 3 streets over. Two aces in my pocket after whatever happens with other offers!

No traditional showings, no pressure to spend on things that I don't need to spend on, no staging (I am moving stuff around as I clean and empty it to get ready to load to container, this is not anything like someone would have their home arranged, not even a weirdo like me!!!), no extra vacuuming, no having to leave with dog (I have Mom's giant dog while she is in rehab after a stroke). An agent bringing buyers at price above Zillow would be great, but I don't expect to wait long enough for that to even be an option.

I also would not be holding my breath for buyers seeing MLS for a 2br home built in 1941 on septic and well to beat down the door. It's not going to happen. If the agent doesn't see the potential, they are road to big loss for me. Most people won't be ok with some of the 80s stuff and mentally list their costs to change the place and think that should lower the price. My view is, their changes aren't my problem. I already gave them new roof, gutters, septic system, water softener, dual sump pump +backup, water proofed basement. I'm not giving more for things I won't be here to enjoy. I won't be strong-armed by anybody. There is a fair price, and it's headed my way before the end of September.
 

jackio

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3 years ago we decided to sell our house and move to a 55+ community. The house was over 30 years old and needed serious updating and a new furnace, driveway and siding also. We decided not to do any work on it, to let someone younger and more energetic than we were, make it "their own". We saw what the houses in the neighborhood were getting and were going to list it with a local realtor. My son-in-law overheard a woman at work saying they were going to look for a house. He gave them our phone number. She called and I told her we were nowhere ready to show the house. She wanted to come anyway, and we let them in the next day. We told her what we were planning on listing with the agent, cut it by 6% (realtor commission fee) and told them the price we wanted. They bought it, as is. Their engineer's report said that the furnace would only last another year at most. Their attorney asked for a $5K concession because of this. We declined, saying that the price was for "as is" condition. They relented, bought the house, and report they are very happy there.
The market has taken off since then, and with the improvements they have made, could probably sell it for $100K more than what they paid.
 

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3 years ago we decided to sell our house and move to a 55+ community. The house was over 30 years old and needed serious updating and a new furnace, driveway and siding also. We decided not to do any work on it, to let someone younger and more energetic than we were, make it "their own". We saw what the houses in the neighborhood were getting and were going to list it with a local realtor. My son-in-law overheard a woman at work saying they were going to look for a house. He gave them our phone number. She called and I told her we were nowhere ready to show the house. She wanted to come anyway, and we let them in the next day. We told her what we were planning on listing with the agent, cut it by 6% (realtor commission fee) and told them the price we wanted. They bought it, as is. Their engineer's report said that the furnace would only last another year at most. Their attorney asked for a $5K concession because of this. We declined, saying that the price was for "as is" condition. They relented, bought the house, and report they are very happy there.
The market has taken off since then, and with the improvements they have made, could probably sell it for $100K more than what they paid.

Great story!! You just never know ...

I would be very interested in how long the furnace actually lasted! I don't think the engineer could know something like that. I would think, he would replace it in a year if it were in His House. Not at all the same as claiming imminent failure. I tend to call BS on stuff that seems fishy. I'm glad you didn't cave.

I have been thinking I'm on borrowed time with the water heater for a long time (could be older than me, seemed old when I got here 20 years ago). No breaky, no fixy....
 

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This is the house we paid the mortgage on for almost another year after buying our current home in June 2010. Sucker took until May 2011 to sell. The realtor, our friend, went on and on about the color being the reason it wasn't selling. Um, no, it is a perfectly acceptable color for this type of house. In fact ten years later it is still this color. We took it away from him after 6 months of following the market down, and were HAPPY to get $200K less than we started. It wasn't me who invited him to do a walk through at our current pumpkin colored home this January, and it isn't me who is saying "I wish he wasn't involved" (he's not really "involved" until they have a unit at the old folks home for us). The new owners have let those crepe myrtles completely obscure the house now -- we had the trees cut every other year or so. BTW, when we were refinancing our current home a year later, they used the Victorian as a comp and the comment was "undesirable style" left the house sitting on the market 10 months. Undesirable my ass -- you either want a Victorian, pink or otherwise, or you don't. Zillow claims it is now worth $300K more than it was sold for. I LOVED that house -- it was my dream house, although not in my dream neighborhood. FYI the neighbors to the left hate the new owners, just like they hated us, just like they hated the owners before us who remodeled the home extensively. Thought we were all putting on airs in their not-the-best neighborhood, I guess.

ETA, our friend the realtor has sold us three homes (including the one above and our current home) and a lot -- he's a bulldog when he's putting a deal together to get us into a house. But certainly ripped his britches (as my MIL would say) on selling the pink house.
 

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View attachment 26558

This is the house we paid the mortgage on for almost another year after buying our current home in June 2010. Sucker took until May 2011 to sell. The realtor, our friend, went on and on about the color being the reason it wasn't selling. Um, no, it is a perfectly acceptable color for this type of house. In fact ten years later it is still this color. We took it away from him after 6 months of following the market down, and were HAPPY to get $200K less than we started. It wasn't me who invited him to do a walk through at our current pumpkin colored home this January, and it isn't me who is saying "I wish he wasn't involved" (he's not really "involved" until they have a unit at the old folks home for us). The new owners have let those crepe myrtles completely obscure the house now -- we had the trees cut every other year or so. BTW, when we were refinancing our current home a year later, they used the Victorian as a comp and the comment was "undesirable style" left the house sitting on the market 10 months. Undesirable my ass -- you either want a Victorian, pink or otherwise, or you don't. Zillow claims it is now worth $300K more than it was sold for. I LOVED that house -- it was my dream house, although not in my dream neighborhood. FYI the neighbors to the left hate the new owners, just like they hated us, just like they hated the owners before us who remodeled the home extensively. Thought we were all putting on airs in their not-the-best neighborhood, I guess.

ETA, our friend the realtor has sold us three homes (including the one above and our current home) and a lot -- he's a bulldog when he's putting a deal together to get us into a house. But certainly ripped his britches (as my MIL would say) on selling the pink house.
It's a lovely house! A ton of great features just from the exterior front! No, pink isn't the reason. My "Earth Room" here has different colored walls (Sun, Sea, Sand, Moon, Brick). This would not get nor tank a sale. Color is easiest change ever.

I Love Victorians, just never had the nerve to own one. So much fine detail to attend to... feels out of my league from the get-go.

nasty neighbors ... at least you know it's Them, not You. I had a very annoying neighbor when I moved here, wanted me to do all kinds of things over here. For Her.

She once complained that my husband arrived home at 2 am. He was a musician, that was hardly the first time he arrived home at 2 am, so I guess maybe this time she was awake. What curfew leverage does she have on us? If I don't care if he's out till 2, why does she care? He always went unplugged after 8 pm, every place we lived, so we never bothered them with noise. I think she just had to always had someone or something to pick on, and I was glad it wasn't her kids, so, fine, bring it over here.

Luckily, her husband was great, would come along later and apologize for her. Like when she decided we shouldn't use our motion detector light because it shone into their bedroom and something as simple as a leaf blowing could set it off (untrue). Husband came over later and said he kept telling her they should have curtains on their bedroom window. !!??!! YES. I don't know how long that light had been there, but before us. How many years do most people wait before opting for privacy in their bedrooms? Especially if that bedroom window is in direct view of neighbor's drive way? Yikes, glad I am one that does not look in windows of neighbor homes. I had never realized they had no window covering.

I am pretty lucky now with GREAT neighbors. They do exist, but it doesn't work to simply BE a good neighbor to HAVE a good neighbor. Too bad. It could have worked wonders on neurotic Ilene.
 

jackio

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Great story!! You just never know ...

I would be very interested in how long the furnace actually lasted! I don't think the engineer could know something like that. I would think, he would replace it in a year if it were in His House. Not at all the same as claiming imminent failure. I tend to call BS on stuff that seems fishy. I'm glad you didn't cave.

I have been thinking I'm on borrowed time with the water heater for a long time (could be older than me, seemed old when I got here 20 years ago). No breaky, no fixy....
The furnace lasted a year and a half :) But they were okay about it because they knew it was coming.
 

DaveNV

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The furnace lasted a year and a half :) But they were okay about it because they knew it was coming.

When I sold my Washington house I had paid to have the furnace and water heater serviced and certified ahead of listing the house. The buyers could be confident the systems would work for them. Both systems were 17 years old, but had plenty of life left in them. I didn't hear any complaints.

Dave
 

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Well, today we looked at the house I have my eye on since 2010. Built in 1978, sold in 2015 for 355K, unobscured panoramic mountain view. Nothing was done since 2015, Zillow price shows as 505K and the seller is asking 665K. It has more stairs than we expected and sub-standard laundry arrangement. Some great features too, but we will not be moving. As mentioned earlier, this is totally sellers market.
 

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Well, today we looked at the house I have my eye on since 2010. Built in 1978, sold in 2015 for 355K, unobscured panoramic mountain view. Nothing was done since 2015, Zillow price shows as 505K and the seller is asking 665K. It has more stairs than we expected and sub-standard laundry arrangement. Some great features too, but we will not be moving. As mentioned earlier, this is totally sellers market.
! Holy canoly! I should set my sights higher, maybe double Zillow ...
 

rapmarks

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I just love that pink house clifffaith
my son has a 1890 Victorian. He went on a historic house tour and they stopped to see his house. He said I like this one, I want to see what it looks like inside. Everyone’s jaw dropped when he just walked right in the house.
 

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Brewster Green (two weeks).
We are losing our pink houses, as well as other colorful houses, that made CHS stand out among cities. It's been happening as homes change hands and the new residents paint the house white, gray or beige. Makes me sad.

I love your house, Faith! Wouldn't change that color for anything either.
 

rickandcindy23

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The trend in our neighborhood is painting brick. Our house is only 41 years old.

Rick would never do that. We have enough siding to paint, and painting brick just means more house to paint every five years. No thanks.
 

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The trend in our neighborhood is painting brick. Our house is only 41 years old.

Rick would never do that. We have enough siding to paint, and painting brick just means more house to paint every five years. No thanks.
Some years back, a massive brick house was being built near here. I thought it was beautiful! Until suddenly the bricks were yellow. ugh.

For me, it's not the maintenance, it's that I like brick, with all its beautiful imperfections. there is a brick surround of my wood burning stove. Some has some white, some a light red, some a
dark red... I love it, changing even on the same brick. I suppose whoever moves in will paint it.
 

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We looked at a house this weekend that had an open house. Per my RE agent, they already had a full price offer at 629K. It was in line with the value that Zillow had for the house. However, they thought they could get more. We got there about 15 mins after the open house started. There were 4 parties ahead of us (only 2 parties in the house at a time due to COVID). By the time we left there was an additional 6 or 7 parties waiting to go in. Quite a few of them seemed to be flippers.

Even though I like a lot about the house, we were not interested. They had both rabbits and dogs in the house with carpeting on the stairs and entire 2nd floor and it kinda skeezed us out. In addition, there is a township sewer easement in the middle of yard (never saw that before). I have no doubt that someone will make an above asking price offer.

Joe

There was just an HGTV show on with this situation. They worked out with the neighbor to redo everything and split the cost.
 

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Dang, with everything going on in my life, I did not think to let the neighbors know...thanks
A (weird) friend did not want her neighbors to know she was moving. She didn't like them and vice versa. She didn't tell anyone, or put a sign out front. She only wanted people to find out from a realtor. I thought that was dumb, as the neighbors might know friends or work associates moving to town, and it was a very nice neighborhood. It took her over a year to sell, for much less than she wanted.
 

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A (weird) friend did not want her neighbors to know she was moving. She didn't like them and vice versa. She didn't tell anyone, or put a sign out front. She only wanted people to find out from a realtor. I thought that was dumb, as the neighbors might know friends or work associates moving to town, and it was a very nice neighborhood. It took her over a year to sell, for much less than she wanted.
Yikes. People playing stupid games win stupid prizes...
 

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A (weird) friend did not want her neighbors to know she was moving. She didn't like them and vice versa. She didn't tell anyone, or put a sign out front. She only wanted people to find out from a realtor. I thought that was dumb, as the neighbors might know friends or work associates moving to town, and it was a very nice neighborhood. It took her over a year to sell, for much less than she wanted.
My sister was that way. Guess who bought her condo, the upstairs neighbor for her son, through a real estate afent
 

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Is Zillow even reliable? Or it can set unreasonable expectations. To me that just goes off or previous sold price and maybe stuff registered with the county. Not a fan of real estate agents as 6% adds up but sometimes they can get results. If they can get people through.
 

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Is Zillow even reliable? Or it can set unreasonable expectations. To me that just goes off or previous sold price and maybe stuff registered with the county. Not a fan of real estate agents as 6% adds up but sometimes they can get results. If they can get people through.
No, Zillow is not reliable. Unless an owner claims a property, Zillow knows only what it can find via public records, no info on remodels, etc. For example, my home shows as having a half bath, none full. I actually have 2 full baths, no halfs. Maybe it only had a half bath back in 1941, when it was built, but I doubt it. Something somewhere is buggered, but not something I care enough to do anything about.

For previous sale and tax info, it's reliable. Current pricing? Not at all. But, it is the best tool available to the masses. As a seller, I expect people to look at Zillow to assess my property. I am not claiming the property on Zillow (yet; I may but currently don't feel the need).

A realtor may or may not be able to get a better price than a person could on their own. I think that if someone has a home with mass appeal in a desirable location, a realtor could help up that final price, or, maybe not at all necessary. They have more resources, including exposure to buyers every single day. I think the whole "comps" thing can be win or lose, as my realtor doesn't have much to compare with, since people back here don't sell, plus, all are one of a kind, no homes sold in the past 5 years are the least bit similar. Since my guy thinks my home is on par with a tiny shot gun ranch 5 miles away, he is not a viable resource for me. It's simply not a valid comparison, which shows me that he's not into this at all, done before he even starts. Some people think they Have To use a realtor, but that has never been the case.

Like so many things, ymmv...
 
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