Sunday, March 15, 2009

I don't wait well...

Ok, I'm getting anxious.  Our realtor met with their realtor- I don't think they had lunch, though.  He did a fabulous job with the presentation (or at least what we saw was great).  He took lots of pictures and presented a bound portfolio of color pics with the proposal detailing the problems we have with the house and why we are offering a reduced price.  I guess he tried to sell the other realtor that this was a good offer based on what he had seen of the house and that the chances of getting someone else willing and/or able to put the work into this house that it needs, are slim to none.  
We'll have to see how it goes.  Evidently the couple who own the property had another offer in a similar price range to ours and turned it down.  What I don't know is how long ago that was.  I guess this other person had no intention of fixing up the house.  They planned to bulldoze it and build new (although that may be easier and faster than rehabing it!)  The price the owners are asking is totally outrageous considering the amount of work that needs to be done on this house.  I don't know if they think they need to get a certain price to 'get back' what they put into it or what.  Both we and our realtor (who has 40 years of experience) feels that our offer is reasonable given the condition of the house.  Personally, I would think that a second offer at about the same price would send a pretty clear message of what it's worth- or what people are willing to pay.  I'm hoping that they're more motivated to sell, even at a lower price since the house has been on the market for so long.
The other realtor was to be meeting with the owners this afternoon. We gave them until 1 pm tomorrow afternoon to make the decision to accept or not. Sigh...

In other news, I spent this lovely day working hard to get this place into condition to sell.  I spent the afternoon stripping the wallpaper from the upstairs bathroom and scrubbing the walls in preparation for painting. J14 helped a bit with the stripping part.  The wallpaper had been there since we moved in and was awful.  We've been planning to remove it for a long time and I've just been waiting for it to get warm enough to open windows while I work.  The children are off on spring break next week so I'm giving J14 the task of priming and painting tomorrow and Tuesday since the weather is supposed to be lovely- at least for the first part of the week.  I forewarned her that she'd better get used to the work. If the house sale goes through we will be working on two houses simultaneously, while in the spring rush of garden planting.  Whoosh!

11 comments:

  1. I can't imagine how anxious you are.
    This property looks beautiful. What part of the country are you in?....if you don't mind me asking?
    I think the owners would be silly not to take your offer, especially with the housing market the way it is.
    I'll be thinking good thoughts for you!

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  2. slaterlife- We are in eastern Iowa, smack dab in the middle of the midwest. I think that part of the problem with this property is that the owners had it appraised right before the housing bubble burst when there was easy money for mortgages and people were spending lots more than they could afford.
    Of course, many people are still spending more than they can afford.
    We'll see.
    Judy

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  3. They probably bought it while prices were up too and it is hard for them to swallow the reality that housing prices have declined by 10-20% depending on the area. I say this from the seller side (as you know I've been struggling to sell our old homestead. Back in August-two weeks before we put our house on the market, a similar house sold for the same price we listed at, however, all offers came in $40,000 less than our listed price!!!) I was willing to take a some loss (and even our listed price was a loss due to overinflated house prices in my area), but $40,000 less was very hard!! If we hadn't finally started getting more reasonable (still loss) offers, I probably would have buckled because I hate taking care of all these properties (too little time in my life!)

    Do you know if the property is mortgage free? This will help in the negotiating!

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  4. Gina- I'm not sure about their mortgage situation. They have been there for 10 years so I'll bet that they are now asking a LOT more than they paid for it. They recently merged with another vet and built a huge animal hospital down the road so they may think they need more $ from this property to pay off that office. We would have been willing to pay the price they're asking if the house had been in better shape. It still amazes me that in the 6-8 months the house has been empty that they haven't managed to out the switch plates and outlet covers back on. As many things as haven't been fixed I almost wonder if they have some benefit in NOT selling it. I guess LOTS of people have been to look and walked out rather quickly because of the state of the house. They didn't even bother to pull the painter's tape from the door frames- now it's permanently adhered and will likely need sanded off. And in the dining room- it's evident that the second coat of paint that they slopped up only went as high as they could reach without a ladder. And those are the minor problems. We won't go into detail about the evident dry rot, bad shingles and lack of insulation.
    Judy

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  5. I hope everything comes together with the offer and selling your current place. I agree, in the current market, the "fair" offer is much different from when they first priced it. Perfect timing with spring break to have the children home to help!

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  6. Here's hoping they get smart and take your offer. In the world of real estate, sellers are often counseled that their first offer is likely to be the best. Holding out for more rarely works, when you consider the additional mortgage payments, etc to keep it those extra months.

    Since they rejected the first lower offer months ago, I hope the realize that this price is really what the market (meaning you as buyers) is willing to pay.

    That said, I had a neighbor behind me in Las Vegas who asked an unreasonable price for their home just before we listed ours. We listed and sold ours more reasonably, and they in turn RAISED their price!! Two years later, they are still trying to sell, and their asking price is way below where we started and sold! Some people are just like that!

    Hope your sellers see the light!

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  7. Oh I hope this works for you - this property is so lovely with such great potential!!!I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and checking for updates!
    Kris

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  8. Good luck Judy! Keep us posted.

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  9. I'm holding my breath with you. I remember the feeling like it was yesterday...waiting for our offer to be excepted.

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  10. Hopefully they accept the offer today. You would think that after their first offer that at the very least they would've did a little cosmetic work. I hope they're more motivated this time. I can picture your family at this place and how much you all would enjoy it there.

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  11. I do think it is odd they left such unappealing conditions knowing the house is trying to be sold. Maybe you are right on the not selling aspect (tax break or something since they had a business in it).

    I hope they see the light about this offer and let someone enjoy and use the property.

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