What do you think..

We put an offer on a house Sunday. We went back and forth with numbers with the sellers. Today they told the listing agent that they want to wait a little to see if they will get a little more.

They just put this house on the market like 2 weeks ago.

Do you think this is hopeless for us? We are at 385 right now. The house was listed for 399. They want to wait to see if they get 390.

We want this house so bad!

Thoughts?

Re: What do you think..

it's all a game in my experience, you know?

they might say that and hope you come up the extra 5 grand...

it's all such a gamble and sometimes the negotiating process is like sitting at a poker table in Vegas...people call each other's bluff all the time.

I hope it works out though!

Re: What do you think..

If you want it that bad, whats another $5k?

If you are willing to take a chance of losing the house, tell the agent that 385 is your best offer and to have the sellers contact her if they change their minds. ( this is how we got our current house, it took 5 months before they called us back though, and it was over $40k not $5k)

Re: What do you think..

Re: What do you think..

Without knowing the house, I think the sellers are taking a foolish risk to hold out for an additional 5K. It is stressful and inconvenient to have your house on the market, and they are paying for utilities and taxes and all of the upkeep on the house while they wait to sell. So not sure why they would hold out for just another $5K. Maybe they don't "need" to move and aren't that motivated (just want to see if they can get their price), or maybe they are just trying to wring every penny out of you, but will ultimately take the $385K. It can be harder to get sellers to budge when the house is new to the market, but I tell my sellers all the time that the first offer is often the best one (and you never know when or if the next one is coming).

From a personal perspective, I think a house is worth more than just what you're paying. Of course you want to be educated on the market, and everyone would like to get a "good deal." But first and foremost, your home is where you are going to live and enjoy life with friends and family, so you need to love it. If you find a home you love and can afford, I agree that it is often worth it to pay a little more than you would hope (or that you think it's worth in today's market) to get the house.

My own personal experience buying my own house -- we paid about $20K more than we felt the house was worth in terms of fair market value BUT we could well afford the house, it was the best house we saw, and we loved it. We still love it and I have NO regrets buying it, even though the sellers were totally inflexible and pains in the you-know-what to deal with and it irked me on principle that we gave in to their price! I'd do it again.

Re: What do you think..

We originally had a minor stand-off over $3k. We thought about it overnight, and decided that $3k in the grand scheme of things wasn't really anything. We had already got them down quite a bit. It was the first house we really loved, had everything we wanted and more, was already a good deal, and if we didn't agree it likely would've gone to someone else, and fast.

After I convinced my husband to meet their offer and we called up our RE Agent, it was as though a huge weight had been lifted. When you break it down into monthly payments, the difference is so insignificant.

If you love it, go for it-don't let your pride keep you from a house that's perfect.

Re: What do you think..

I agree-- what's another 5K when it comes to the house you love.

We did have a similar situation, when we were selling our place. We got offers right away, and they were much lower than we initially we willing to go. Luckily, we had several offers and the person we ultimately sold to was close to the original, albeit their final offer.

I also think as a seller, when you get offers so quickly-- it's scary. YOu are not expecting that in this market-- so they just may be gun shy about taking something that was not what they envisioned.