Offered seller full asking and they come back higher? (houses, neighborhood)

[Nick_tx]

Long story short; my wife and I offered the seller full price after speaking with them in person. They agreed that was the price they wanted. Now they say after talking they want to ask $17K higher than the full asking price!
What up with that?!

[jmking]

You're kidding? That is why a realtor may suit your best interest.

[jgreco5]

How is the price compared to what the market is bringing? If your price was fair, I'd walk,
They are being greedy pigs and have $$ signs in their eyes hearing that there is a housing recovery.
Tell them to call you when they are being realistic.

[jgreco5]

Originally Posted by jmking

You're kidding? That is why a realtor may suit your best interest.

That can happen with or without a realtor.

[slnt]

Seriously, what? Personally, I'd walk. There are so many great houses on the market, don't put yourself through it. No doubt, if you agreed to their higher price, they'd come back with something else. If you don't have a realtor, you need to get one fast. Good Luck with your house purchase!

[Komeht]

Normal in a hot market. The list price is a suggested price - not an offer.

The first offer (usually, not always) comes from the buyer.

If there is a multiple offer scenario there could be a few rounds before a price is agreed to - sometimes substantially higher than list.

Sometimes a property is listed at lower than FMV to generate interest. If it's a good property in a hot neighborhood it can result in a bidding war and end up going substantially over list.

This can happen regardless of whether buyer has a realtor.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by jgreco5

How is the price compared to what the market is bringing? If your price was fair, I'd walk,
They are being greedy pigs and have $$ signs in their eyes hearing that there is a housing recovery.
Tell them to call you when they are being realistic.

All sellers are entitled to maximize value on their house. It's probably their most important asset - why wouldn't you want to maximize this? You can call it greed if you like - but it's also perfectly rational.

The seller may have realized list is undervalued or may have adopted an approach of aggressive pricing to generate interest. This makes them no more or less greedy than any other seller on the market.

[jmking]

Originally Posted by jgreco5

That can happen with or without a realtor.

That's true but apparently the OP is a bit freaked about it, but not a pro, who would know the local market prices and know how to negotiate quickly, know exactly what to say and deal with sellers and buyers.

What the op is experiencing is what I do not want to experience. That is why I hire realtors to deal with people I have no interest in haggling with.

[North Beach Person]

If the buyer offers full asking and the sellers reject it don't they owe their agent full commission?


As others have said, walk.

[Nick_tx]

Have a realtor and he is working fervently to get the seller back to his original asking price. It was just wild to hear. Offered them full asking with nothing else, just had to pass inspection with no major issues and then they decide to ask $17K higher. I know it's their right but that's messed up. The house was visually a mess and has been on the market almost a year. It also needs about $20K worth of work, which we were fine with putting in, but not at the higher price. We're just waiting now to see his final response.