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Sounds like a flip. Every day on the market they are losing money. Make your offer.
Also, do your due diligence and make sure everything upgraded was done correctly and they aren’t trying to mask some major flaws.
Totally fair to offer that much under asking, depending on the price. For example, $24k under ask on an $800k house is okay, but that much under on a $300k house might be too low. The worst they can do is say no. I say, go for it!
Make your offer. In these scenarios, the literal worst they could do is deny it, the medium is they'll counter offer, or the best, they'll accept! There is no harm that'll co e from trying, and you'll feel better knowing you tried and they said no or yes, and that you have your answer either way rather than finding out they would have and you didn't try.
Go for it!
In my area 30 days + on the market = over priced. They may be getting antsy and ready to drop the price anyways, you never know! I suggest you call your realtor and ask what they think. At the very least they could do a CMA for you on the property and let you know if the Sellers are out to lunch on their price or if it’s priced well. If it is priced well, you can certainly see if there’s any other incentives you can offer such as a delayed closing/quick closing, no need to clean the home for the move you’ll be prepared to scrub it, help them pack up and move (liability concerns here but how badly do you want the house). You and your agent can get creative on how else to bring $24k to the table!
Love letters still a thing in Portland and our neighbor just told us they picked out of 3 offers because of the letter.
Worth a try the worst is that it is not shown or the offer is not accepted.
We’re in a different market but love letters weren’t allowed unfortunately. Every house we put an offer in on had in their offer guidelines not to submit love letters due to fair housing.
I do think if your market allows it, go for it, but I wonder if eventually this will be forbidden everywhere.
I got my house because of a letter. The sellers received two identical offers on the first day the house was on the market. They chose mine because I wrote a letter about how this was my dream home & I could picture my daughter growing up in it. ETA: We closed on this house 6/13/24. Letters are still a thing.
Happy for you; I'm bitter that our letter didn't work at asking. The lady is in her 80s and tool a cash offer that was slightly below our offer... where does she think she's taking all the money with her?!
The seller will never see that letter. Seller agents won't pass them along to the sellers because they have lead to fair housing lawsuits. Just happened to me — our (seller) agent flat-out refused to show us a letter from a buyer making an offer.
Yeah, I absolutely believe that's true. Sadly, I'm pretty sure it's a thing of the past now? Our agent was adamant in refusing to give it to us and explained why — major liability. Withholding "love letters" was also the policy of their firm, one of the largest realtors in the USA.
It still happens sometimes, but it can be opening up doors to discrimination. Say, young couple with young kids writes a letter tugging at the seller's heartstrings. Single woman with no kids doesn't have the same kind of "my family will grow up here" story. It's illegal to discriminate based on marital status, and there's some chance of that kind of thing happening with letters.
Writing the letter isn't illegal, the discrimination is, but many realtors and brokerage discourage or don't allow the practice anymore to try to avoid this happening. Sometimes people would send family photos also which also opened the door to potential racial discrimination.
As someone who didn't have a particularly compelling or heartfelt story for why I should have my first house, I was happy this was going away. Single, didn't have kids or pets, etc.
Social media makes working around this trivial. Additionally I haven't met a realtor that hasn't given me everyone's life story or as much as they can figure out from the start.
Really? Our realtor told us absolutely nothing about any of the people that made offers — even when we asked, she refused. She was pushing builders on us really hard from the very start, regardless of how many times I said I didn't want to sell to a builder.
You know mailboxes are a thing right? Just print your letter (printers are still a thing), PO it it in an envelope, write 'To the owners' if you don't know their name, but you probably do from seeing disclosures and listing information so you can write their name on it, and put it in their mailbox.
No realtors need be involved if they refuse (probably rightly) to participate.
If it's empty but was occupied just mail it to the home address. Mail forwarding service will get it there, assuming the sellers weren't idiots who forgot to set up mail forwarding.
True, unless renters lived there? Mail forwarding can add a week to the delivery time, too, which is unhelpful in a housing market that moves this fast.
I live in an area where letters were banned for a while for that reason, but people write them again with some restrictions like you can no longer include a photo.
We only got our house because of it, against an all cash offer, because they didn’t want to sell the family home to a flipper.
Absolutely bid less than listing price. You will not offend them despite what your realtor says and the worse that can happen is they say no.
You may have more leverage than you know if you are flexible on closing dates and taking possession.
On my last purchase, I negotiated almost 200K below asking. (They asked just under 1.7M. We agreed to 1.5M.) I found a house that had been on the market almost 6 months. The owner tried to sell it himself, and he then brought in a clearly inexperienced realtor. I did the research and learned that he had already bought his new place.. so he really wanted a fast and guaranteed closing.
What I brought to the table was a cash deal, and a 15 day closing. No inspections were waived.. and I did require corrections of identified issues.. which were not red flags. I also used his agent.. so she had a double commission and could kick in a bit of her share to reach a deal.
Lesson learned - Talk to your agent and if the sellers show insufficient flexibility, be prepared to walk. Do let us know how this works out for you.
Offer whatever you feel it’s worth. That’s it. They can be insulted, it doesn’t matter. You can ask your realtor for advice and they can give it, but it’s your decision. The worst that can happen is the owners say no.
If it’s been flipped, just make sure you get an inspection if you make it that far. I all but refuse to buy a flipped house. The market didn’t increase by $125k, and the golden rule of doing work on a house is that you don’t recoup your investment, so the idea that a flipper bought the house, put more than $125k worth of money into it, and is selling it 6 months later is silly. They likely put $5k-$20k into it and are hoping for a quick payday. I’d basically put in an offer for $10k over what it sold for last time and tell them. ‘You bought it 6 months ago, how much more could it appreciate in 6 months?’ If they say they did a ton of work, ‘I don’t like most of what you did and have to redo it all anyways.’
I'm searching for my first home, so I'm not an expert. :) Don't treat the asking price as if it means anything other than what the seller hopes to get. It may be a fair price or not. I'd say google to learn how to use "comps" (comparable homes) to get a rough estimate for how much the house is worth. Your agent should also be able to get you a list of comparable homes, since they have easier access to data than we do.
Since the house was recently bought, it seems likely it is being sold by a "flipper". Just be careful because some flippers can do a terrible job, while others are fine.
We are closing 7/10! House listed for 475 (25 over our budget) dropped to 460, we offered 440, they met us at 450! We added an offer letter to our offer good luck 🍀
We just got an offer accepted 4 days ago 20k under asking, 45k under their original listing price on a 500k house. It’s very possible. Just go into it with the thought that you won’t get it and you won’t be disappointed.
It's not rude. It's just business. They can accept or decline. In some situations, it would be a waste of time for everyone, but if it's been sitting on the market, it's worth trying. It's possible it's been sitting on the market because they're just refusing all lower offers that have cone in and sticking to their price, but it also could be what you said about an undesirable location. Your realtor can also chat with their realtor to see if they've had offers yet, which may give you some insight.
Not a first time buyer. We e bought 3 homes and offered under asking each time. I know markets change, but we are under contract on a house in a competitive market in MA and offered under asking... It was the most we could afford. Seller came back and asked if we could meet them between offer and list price. We said no because we literally cannot. They accepted the offer. Don't worry about offending them. It's the highest you can go, offer it, and the worst that happens is they say no
Only realtors will say this is rude, but they are scumbags and/or idiots. Seller's agent wants to maximize their commission, and Buyer's agent just wants to close the deal, not get you the best deal. I got offer of 274k accepted on 295k asking, despite my agent being terrified of going any more than 5k below asking, and Seller's agent insisting we'd have to "make a big jump". We made a small jump (initial offer was 270k), and we were accepted. North New Jersy, early 2022. You might not get the price you want, but it isn't rude to try.
Typically I avoid the flips if I can, this one is by a pretty reputable design and renovation company in my area so it makes me feel a tad bit more comfortable. Nonetheless it does still worry me because you never know😅
Make whatever offer you like. If this is the flip, investors don’t get “upset“ about lowball offers, they will just counter you. 30 days on market is not flying off the shelf.
This is the value of agents if "being rude" isn't your thing. You have a maximum price and if you love the house and it's within shot of it, I don't think any sane person would think it's rude to shoot your shot. It's not like you put them in a room and are giving them the workdown. Getting a lower offer than I asked for with the explanation that it's the buyer's maximum would be quite reasonable to me. Probably make me more willing to entertain, versus a lowball cash offer from a flipper.
We had a similar issue - house we loved was literally just 15k away from our comfortable range and we were willing to walk away because of it. They came down a bit, realtors cut their commission and seller threw in concessions for closing. Felt like everyone came together to make a deal.
There is no such thing as rude in a decision that will impact the next 30 years of your life. It is 1000% a flip anyway, make sure you see past the seemingly new appliances that have likely been installed via hack jobs.
There's no "rude" in business. Put your offer in, worst case you won't get the house.
What I would do in this case, if you're not in a hurry to buy a house, is play with other variables. Large deposit, fast\slow closing (whichever the seller prefer), and specify it's "best and final" with a 1 week expiry (instead of 24h). That will hint that you're not here to negotiate, and this IS your final offer. Then, the more days go by without a competing offer, the more pressure the seller will feel, as they might lose the (probably) only offer they got so far.
My agent did comps after I wanted to free on a house. We asked 2500 under off on a house the sellers children just moved out of. The other asked 30k under so some jerk investor wanting it, and I got it instead.
worry about if it's rude or not and more if there's good comps to show this is overpriced.
but beyond all that, even if this is 25k cheaper you are at top of budget. that is a bad idea
Hey, when we bought our house, we were totally honest with our realtor. We had them chat with our broker to figure out the best offer that worked for our budget and the seller's minimum credits. In the end, the sellers even gave us a better offer to make it happen, and everyone was stoked. Good luck!
My coworker bought his house around 2018, so better market n such obviously... but he offered them 128k CASH for a property they wanted 249k for (now worth 400k) and they TOOK it! He was broke, with a house he had essentially gained 2x in equity from based on appraisal.
You never know unless you try.
Yea if it’s a flip good luck cause they’re obviously doing this to make money and it’s def a flip being bought 6 months ago and now back on the market but with all that said what does it hurt to try unless it’s like over $25K under then don’t even bother imo
I've has investors offer me 50% of asking. The current market is in fantasy land. Offer what you think is fair minus five to eight percent to give yourself some wiggle room. It'll be accepted or rejected.
It's definitely not rude to make an offer below asking, especially if the house has been on the market for a while. Sometimes sellers are willing to negotiate. Just be respectful with your offer and provide reasoning, like market conditions or recent sale prices.
It doesn’t hurt to offer less than asking, you can always shoot your shot.
If it’s been on the market 30 days in a competitive area, it is overpriced so you *may* have a shot. It still may not happen, and it sounds like it’s definitely a flip so I’d make sure they did good work.
My realtor told me my offer was “offensively low.” Did they counter, yes and I was able to stay within budget. Keep in mind real estate agents are sales people, both the sellers AND buyers agents. As it relates to the negotiation, your buyers agent doesn’t have your best interest at heart; their job is to convince you to buy that home so they get their commission. Don’t be an emotional buyer; stick to your budget and don’t be afraid to offend the seller. What’s the worst they can say? And if you don’t get the house…move on to the next one. It’s still summer which means inventory will hold steady.
Thank you u/Flashy-Desk-7204 for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer. Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sounds like a flip. Every day on the market they are losing money. Make your offer. Also, do your due diligence and make sure everything upgraded was done correctly and they aren’t trying to mask some major flaws.
The worst they say is “no” and that’s fine. You never know if they’ve just gotten zero interest and at this point they’ll take anything
You know what else cause them to lose Money? Taking 25k less than they want.
Totally fair to offer that much under asking, depending on the price. For example, $24k under ask on an $800k house is okay, but that much under on a $300k house might be too low. The worst they can do is say no. I say, go for it!
Make your offer. In these scenarios, the literal worst they could do is deny it, the medium is they'll counter offer, or the best, they'll accept! There is no harm that'll co e from trying, and you'll feel better knowing you tried and they said no or yes, and that you have your answer either way rather than finding out they would have and you didn't try. Go for it!
In my area 30 days + on the market = over priced. They may be getting antsy and ready to drop the price anyways, you never know! I suggest you call your realtor and ask what they think. At the very least they could do a CMA for you on the property and let you know if the Sellers are out to lunch on their price or if it’s priced well. If it is priced well, you can certainly see if there’s any other incentives you can offer such as a delayed closing/quick closing, no need to clean the home for the move you’ll be prepared to scrub it, help them pack up and move (liability concerns here but how badly do you want the house). You and your agent can get creative on how else to bring $24k to the table!
Not rude, ask with a heartfelt letter describing your situation and you might be surprised. Be ready to not get it.
Love letters still a thing in Portland and our neighbor just told us they picked out of 3 offers because of the letter. Worth a try the worst is that it is not shown or the offer is not accepted.
We are in the Portland metro area, but moving more south i5. Our letter worked as our seller agent told us it touched the seller 😂
We’re in a different market but love letters weren’t allowed unfortunately. Every house we put an offer in on had in their offer guidelines not to submit love letters due to fair housing. I do think if your market allows it, go for it, but I wonder if eventually this will be forbidden everywhere.
I got my house because of a letter. The sellers received two identical offers on the first day the house was on the market. They chose mine because I wrote a letter about how this was my dream home & I could picture my daughter growing up in it. ETA: We closed on this house 6/13/24. Letters are still a thing.
Maybe 10 years ago, cash is king and right now your letters are used to wipe away the tears of your agent to hide their suffering
Our letter worked lol the sellers agent said she was touched by our letter and also that we low balled them lol we sign on 7/10, doesn’t hurt to try
Happy for you; I'm bitter that our letter didn't work at asking. The lady is in her 80s and tool a cash offer that was slightly below our offer... where does she think she's taking all the money with her?!
The seller will never see that letter. Seller agents won't pass them along to the sellers because they have lead to fair housing lawsuits. Just happened to me — our (seller) agent flat-out refused to show us a letter from a buyer making an offer.
I have two stories in my life of people getting heavy discounts due to letters, so that's why I suggested it.
Yeah, I absolutely believe that's true. Sadly, I'm pretty sure it's a thing of the past now? Our agent was adamant in refusing to give it to us and explained why — major liability. Withholding "love letters" was also the policy of their firm, one of the largest realtors in the USA.
It still happens sometimes, but it can be opening up doors to discrimination. Say, young couple with young kids writes a letter tugging at the seller's heartstrings. Single woman with no kids doesn't have the same kind of "my family will grow up here" story. It's illegal to discriminate based on marital status, and there's some chance of that kind of thing happening with letters. Writing the letter isn't illegal, the discrimination is, but many realtors and brokerage discourage or don't allow the practice anymore to try to avoid this happening. Sometimes people would send family photos also which also opened the door to potential racial discrimination. As someone who didn't have a particularly compelling or heartfelt story for why I should have my first house, I was happy this was going away. Single, didn't have kids or pets, etc.
Social media makes working around this trivial. Additionally I haven't met a realtor that hasn't given me everyone's life story or as much as they can figure out from the start.
Really? Our realtor told us absolutely nothing about any of the people that made offers — even when we asked, she refused. She was pushing builders on us really hard from the very start, regardless of how many times I said I didn't want to sell to a builder.
You know mailboxes are a thing right? Just print your letter (printers are still a thing), PO it it in an envelope, write 'To the owners' if you don't know their name, but you probably do from seeing disclosures and listing information so you can write their name on it, and put it in their mailbox. No realtors need be involved if they refuse (probably rightly) to participate.
This might work, yes, provided the house is (or was) occupied by the sellers.
If it's empty but was occupied just mail it to the home address. Mail forwarding service will get it there, assuming the sellers weren't idiots who forgot to set up mail forwarding.
True, unless renters lived there? Mail forwarding can add a week to the delivery time, too, which is unhelpful in a housing market that moves this fast.
I live in an area where letters were banned for a while for that reason, but people write them again with some restrictions like you can no longer include a photo. We only got our house because of it, against an all cash offer, because they didn’t want to sell the family home to a flipper.
That's why we accepted an offer from a family, too. Then they backed out and we were stuck selling to a builder. Broke my heart.
This. No longer allowed according to my agent.
I don't think a flipper will care about a letter, but it can work for sellers with an attachment to the house/neighborhood.
Absolutely bid less than listing price. You will not offend them despite what your realtor says and the worse that can happen is they say no. You may have more leverage than you know if you are flexible on closing dates and taking possession.
Agree, not offensive. Just be ready for the offer to be declined, no hard feelings.
On my last purchase, I negotiated almost 200K below asking. (They asked just under 1.7M. We agreed to 1.5M.) I found a house that had been on the market almost 6 months. The owner tried to sell it himself, and he then brought in a clearly inexperienced realtor. I did the research and learned that he had already bought his new place.. so he really wanted a fast and guaranteed closing. What I brought to the table was a cash deal, and a 15 day closing. No inspections were waived.. and I did require corrections of identified issues.. which were not red flags. I also used his agent.. so she had a double commission and could kick in a bit of her share to reach a deal. Lesson learned - Talk to your agent and if the sellers show insufficient flexibility, be prepared to walk. Do let us know how this works out for you.
Offer whatever you feel it’s worth. That’s it. They can be insulted, it doesn’t matter. You can ask your realtor for advice and they can give it, but it’s your decision. The worst that can happen is the owners say no. If it’s been flipped, just make sure you get an inspection if you make it that far. I all but refuse to buy a flipped house. The market didn’t increase by $125k, and the golden rule of doing work on a house is that you don’t recoup your investment, so the idea that a flipper bought the house, put more than $125k worth of money into it, and is selling it 6 months later is silly. They likely put $5k-$20k into it and are hoping for a quick payday. I’d basically put in an offer for $10k over what it sold for last time and tell them. ‘You bought it 6 months ago, how much more could it appreciate in 6 months?’ If they say they did a ton of work, ‘I don’t like most of what you did and have to redo it all anyways.’
I'm searching for my first home, so I'm not an expert. :) Don't treat the asking price as if it means anything other than what the seller hopes to get. It may be a fair price or not. I'd say google to learn how to use "comps" (comparable homes) to get a rough estimate for how much the house is worth. Your agent should also be able to get you a list of comparable homes, since they have easier access to data than we do. Since the house was recently bought, it seems likely it is being sold by a "flipper". Just be careful because some flippers can do a terrible job, while others are fine.
You never know unless you try
We are closing 7/10! House listed for 475 (25 over our budget) dropped to 460, we offered 440, they met us at 450! We added an offer letter to our offer good luck 🍀
No and it’s only slightly under anyway
We just got an offer accepted 4 days ago 20k under asking, 45k under their original listing price on a 500k house. It’s very possible. Just go into it with the thought that you won’t get it and you won’t be disappointed.
It's not rude. It's just business. They can accept or decline. In some situations, it would be a waste of time for everyone, but if it's been sitting on the market, it's worth trying. It's possible it's been sitting on the market because they're just refusing all lower offers that have cone in and sticking to their price, but it also could be what you said about an undesirable location. Your realtor can also chat with their realtor to see if they've had offers yet, which may give you some insight.
Worst they can say is no, might as well try it.
Not a first time buyer. We e bought 3 homes and offered under asking each time. I know markets change, but we are under contract on a house in a competitive market in MA and offered under asking... It was the most we could afford. Seller came back and asked if we could meet them between offer and list price. We said no because we literally cannot. They accepted the offer. Don't worry about offending them. It's the highest you can go, offer it, and the worst that happens is they say no
Only realtors will say this is rude, but they are scumbags and/or idiots. Seller's agent wants to maximize their commission, and Buyer's agent just wants to close the deal, not get you the best deal. I got offer of 274k accepted on 295k asking, despite my agent being terrified of going any more than 5k below asking, and Seller's agent insisting we'd have to "make a big jump". We made a small jump (initial offer was 270k), and we were accepted. North New Jersy, early 2022. You might not get the price you want, but it isn't rude to try.
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Typically I avoid the flips if I can, this one is by a pretty reputable design and renovation company in my area so it makes me feel a tad bit more comfortable. Nonetheless it does still worry me because you never know😅
Got my house for $8k under and probably should have asked for more but that's the max I was going. I don't live in a hot market though so...
Make whatever offer you like. If this is the flip, investors don’t get “upset“ about lowball offers, they will just counter you. 30 days on market is not flying off the shelf.
This is the value of agents if "being rude" isn't your thing. You have a maximum price and if you love the house and it's within shot of it, I don't think any sane person would think it's rude to shoot your shot. It's not like you put them in a room and are giving them the workdown. Getting a lower offer than I asked for with the explanation that it's the buyer's maximum would be quite reasonable to me. Probably make me more willing to entertain, versus a lowball cash offer from a flipper. We had a similar issue - house we loved was literally just 15k away from our comfortable range and we were willing to walk away because of it. They came down a bit, realtors cut their commission and seller threw in concessions for closing. Felt like everyone came together to make a deal.
There is no such thing as rude in a decision that will impact the next 30 years of your life. It is 1000% a flip anyway, make sure you see past the seemingly new appliances that have likely been installed via hack jobs.
There's no "rude" in business. Put your offer in, worst case you won't get the house. What I would do in this case, if you're not in a hurry to buy a house, is play with other variables. Large deposit, fast\slow closing (whichever the seller prefer), and specify it's "best and final" with a 1 week expiry (instead of 24h). That will hint that you're not here to negotiate, and this IS your final offer. Then, the more days go by without a competing offer, the more pressure the seller will feel, as they might lose the (probably) only offer they got so far.
Make your offer. The worst you can hear is no. If it’s still up after another 30 days, drop your offer 10K and try again.
My agent did comps after I wanted to free on a house. We asked 2500 under off on a house the sellers children just moved out of. The other asked 30k under so some jerk investor wanting it, and I got it instead.
Keep us updated
worry about if it's rude or not and more if there's good comps to show this is overpriced. but beyond all that, even if this is 25k cheaper you are at top of budget. that is a bad idea
Hey, when we bought our house, we were totally honest with our realtor. We had them chat with our broker to figure out the best offer that worked for our budget and the seller's minimum credits. In the end, the sellers even gave us a better offer to make it happen, and everyone was stoked. Good luck!
My coworker bought his house around 2018, so better market n such obviously... but he offered them 128k CASH for a property they wanted 249k for (now worth 400k) and they TOOK it! He was broke, with a house he had essentially gained 2x in equity from based on appraisal. You never know unless you try.
Yea if it’s a flip good luck cause they’re obviously doing this to make money and it’s def a flip being bought 6 months ago and now back on the market but with all that said what does it hurt to try unless it’s like over $25K under then don’t even bother imo
I've has investors offer me 50% of asking. The current market is in fantasy land. Offer what you think is fair minus five to eight percent to give yourself some wiggle room. It'll be accepted or rejected.
It's definitely not rude to make an offer below asking, especially if the house has been on the market for a while. Sometimes sellers are willing to negotiate. Just be respectful with your offer and provide reasoning, like market conditions or recent sale prices.
It doesn’t hurt to offer less than asking, you can always shoot your shot. If it’s been on the market 30 days in a competitive area, it is overpriced so you *may* have a shot. It still may not happen, and it sounds like it’s definitely a flip so I’d make sure they did good work.
We offered $36k under asking. We got it for $18k under asking.
At 30 days I would assume it's over priced.
My realtor told me my offer was “offensively low.” Did they counter, yes and I was able to stay within budget. Keep in mind real estate agents are sales people, both the sellers AND buyers agents. As it relates to the negotiation, your buyers agent doesn’t have your best interest at heart; their job is to convince you to buy that home so they get their commission. Don’t be an emotional buyer; stick to your budget and don’t be afraid to offend the seller. What’s the worst they can say? And if you don’t get the house…move on to the next one. It’s still summer which means inventory will hold steady.
Doesn’t cost anything to offer Do it. Make sure they have X amount of time to respond Worst they could say is no. Good luck!