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So, just because the listing is coming up on a year and I can't do anything for a couple of weeks, I asked my realtor to reach out and touch base with the seller's agent. As I said before, they dropped the price around 3% but no other drops. The seller's agent said, 'They are not going below $____ which would be 15% off. My final offer is closer to 19% off but to me that's a huge development. My realtor says that she said that back in the fall but I don't think she did. She said, as I recall, "They are not taking in the $XXX,000's (where our initial offer was going to be and was). She also said that she has a couple of other buyer's interested??? So no deals? Don't believe that. And lastly, when the listing expires next week, they will likely take it off the market. So in spite of 2 other interested buyers, they are taking it off the market? Also said they have 'plenty of cash' but I know for a fact they have a significant mortgage and spend much of their time at another home they own elsewhere. No one with a lot of cash has that much in a mortgage, especially empty nesters. Discuss.
There is nothing to discuss outside of your fixation with this house. Why not make your final offer, let them respond, and if need be, move on. You need to be emotionally ready to let go of this house.
I agree with charlygal. If you don't trust what your own agent is telling you, just call the seller's agent directly. Say that you're interested in the house but don't want to go through the whole formal written offer process if it's going to be a waste of everyone's time. (Seller's agents will often discourage the seller from taking verbal offers which is why you should tell them you're definitely interested but don't want to risk offending anyone.) Ask if you think they would consider $XXX,XXX and if the agent thinks that the seller's might be open to that amount, go ahead and have your agent submit a written offer. Kind of a sh*t or get off the pot thing by this point for all involved.
I agree with charlygal. If you don't trust what your own agent is telling you, just call the seller's agent directly. Say that you're interested in the house but don't want to go through the whole formal written offer process if it's going to be a waste of everyone's time. (Seller's agents will often discourage the seller from taking verbal offers which is why you should tell them you're definitely interested but don't want to risk offending anyone.) Ask if you think they would consider $XXX,XXX and if the agent thinks that the seller's might be open to that amount, go ahead and have your agent submit a written offer. Kind of a sh*t or get off the pot thing by this point for all involved.
Well, I understand why you might not have read the entire thread. We made an offer in the fall and they countered but it wasn't a great counter. It made sense for us to wait til spring anyway so I decided to do that. We are waiting til a deal closes at my husband's work at which point we will make our final offer. I will make it written. The first offer was written.
I agree with charlygal. If you don't trust what your own agent is telling you, just call the seller's agent directly. Say that you're interested in the house but don't want to go through the whole formal written offer process if it's going to be a waste of everyone's time. (Seller's agents will often discourage the seller from taking verbal offers which is why you should tell them you're definitely interested but don't want to risk offending anyone.) Ask if you think they would consider $XXX,XXX and if the agent thinks that the seller's might be open to that amount, go ahead and have your agent submit a written offer. Kind of a sh*t or get off the pot thing by this point for all involved.
Most Seller's agents won't know what a Seller will ultimately accept--unless a Seller is dumb enough to tell them. A Seller's agent shouldn't be divulging information unless it's favorable to the Seller.
So, just because the listing is coming up on a year and I can't do anything for a couple of weeks, I asked my realtor to reach out and touch base with the seller's agent. As I said before, they dropped the price around 3% but no other drops. The seller's agent said, 'They are not going below $____ which would be 15% off. My final offer is closer to 19% off but to me that's a huge development. My realtor says that she said that back in the fall but I don't think she did. She said, as I recall, "They are not taking in the $XXX,000's (where our initial offer was going to be and was). She also said that she has a couple of other buyer's interested??? So no deals? Don't believe that. And lastly, when the listing expires next week, they will likely take it off the market. So in spite of 2 other interested buyers, they are taking it off the market? Also said they have 'plenty of cash' but I know for a fact they have a significant mortgage and spend much of their time at another home they own elsewhere. No one with a lot of cash has that much in a mortgage, especially empty nesters. Discuss.
In my opinion, your sellers and their agent will only take the house off the market in order to do the same thing they did when they lowered it last time, i.e. "bury" a new price reduction by re-listing it later with a lower price, but making it look like it is not a drop, but rather is new to the market. They want to bring it back to the market as "fresh," and they will likely do it again with a new MLS number. Of course, there are a few websites which will show the entire price history, but most websites won't. New buyers who don't know the history of this house sitting on the market and/or others who may have restricted their house search to properties under $2 million may never have seen "your house" at all. And I do think it is likely that your sellers are now finally prepared to list the house at just under $2 million, and if they do, anyone who may be, like you, waiting for that to happen, has to be ready to act immediately.
Keep in mind that more buyers might be interested in "your house" than you think, in part because of other properties for sale in the neighborhood. Those who looked at that other house may have also seen "your house" and are considering it, too, but don't like the price tag. It's only natural to drive around and look at surrounding houses or nearby neighborhoods when one attends an open house or showing of another house.
Just curious, how do you know how much the seller's mortgage is?
I do know what the mortgage is. It's not small. Also, most of the houses in that neighborhood are under contract, albeit in that immediate neighborhood, there are only two other listings. One is my seller's agent. Both lots are a fair bit bigger and the homes are old. We looked at both but didn't want to take that whole thing on to renovate as needed. Also, I can't afford those bigger lots. One is an acre and one is .75. I don't need more than .5.
I would tend to think most realtors now are savvy enough to get around that pull it off the market trick but who knows?
Maybe there are other buyers but guaranteed they are also waiting for a price drop. That's why I do want to go in and make my final offer. Maybe they will just figure a bird in the hand. I honestly am very skeptical that there are other buyers. Most people don't want to sit this long waiting for a price drop. I only can do it because it is near enough to us that my kids won't have to change schools or anything. I know a woman who moved here recently and works with my husband. She asked me all about the area and real estate and she bought a house within 2 months. Stuff is selling around here. More than I thought it would be.
I keep hearing that buyers want new, too. I am not sure if the buyers of those two older homes will tear down or not. It will be interesting to see.
Most Seller's agents won't know what a Seller will ultimately accept--unless a Seller is dumb enough to tell them. A Seller's agent shouldn't be divulging information unless it's favorable to the Seller.
After this long on the market and with talk of other offers being made, the seller's agent would generally have an idea of whether it's in the ballpark of what the seller might be looking for or they could simply contact their client and say "We've had some interest at $XXX,XXX. Is this an amount that would work for you?"
I really don't understand why it has to be that hard for parties to communicate and agents should really take into consideration that all the back-and-forth and not trusting what amounts to constant 2nd hand info grates on people. That's part of the reason you see a number of people being very anti-agent in some threads because some unnecessarily complicate things.
If OP really wants to push the envelope, just wait until that listing expires and then contact the owner directly. If both parties are willing to go without agents, it's an easy way to save up to 6%. I know that is not what any of the agents on the board want to hear but sometimes it's just easier to do things without a middleman if both parties feel comfortable enough to complete the transaction on their own with the use of a real estate attorney or title company.
Last edited by FLKitties; 05-03-2019 at 05:17 PM..
Reason: typo
I believe you when you say you know what the original mortgage was, but how do you know the outstanding balance? Usually the amount remaining on a mortgage is only available via a lender, and I don't see how they would give you that information. The sellers may or may not have shared their outstanding balance with their listing agent, and it seems to me that would be a violation of that agent's fiduciary duty to share that information with any prospective buyer.
Public information (here in CA at least) regarding mortgages pertains to the recording documents, and does not show current, outstanding balances. During the tenure of my own mortgage, for example, I consistently paid extra toward my principal, and that was not public information. The public only knew that my mortgage was fully paid off 12 years early because of the document recorded.
Even if you go to your county's office, you can only see documents which have been recorded.
As far as the amount that your sellers have on a mortgage, it's possible that they kept a high mortgage in the past in order to deduct from their taxes, but they can't do that anymore, as you know.
Information peddlers can't sell what they don't know. Quoting from an information-selling website: "our reports show mortgage information and amounts from the date it was recorded. It does not show the remaining balance information. "
"We also offer our services in the form of Ownership and Encumbrance reports which give you the following information:
Ownership history
Open Deeds of Trust or Mortgages
Open liens publicly filed against a property, such as judgements or tax liens
Tax information for the property (in most counties)"
You (and I) know how to get the above limited information without resorting to buying reports, but I don't know how you can know what your sellers' outstanding balance is.
No one with a lot of cash has that much in a mortgage, especially empty nesters. Discuss.
LOL
Why do you presume this?
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