low ball offers

We got an offer today that was so low it was disgusting. Our house has been on the market 20 days. I know I should be happy that there is some interest, and we have not made an offer on anything else, so we are not in a time crunch, but I feel insulted. My realtor said he was insulted for us...I turned the offer down based upon the realtor's advice. Did I do the right thing? Should I have negotiated?

Re: low ball offers

I don't see how you benefit by being 'insulted' by an offer. I would counter any offer (at a price you're comfortable with), and see what happens...

Re: low ball offers

i would counter too. i got a lowball offer too - i dropped 9K. It made a statement.

Re: low ball offers

I agree with previous posters -- I know it can be hard to hear offers that you believe are insultingly low. But if you really want to sell, it's in your best interest to counter and see where it goes.

What's the downside? The worst that can happen is that they don't come up, and then you are always free to reject their offer, and you are where you are now. But you never know... Some buyers get bad advice and think they must always start unrealistically low, even if they would ulitmately pay a LOT more. You never know where it will end up, and you have nothing to lose by countering IF they seemed to be qualified and motivated buyers (preapproved, nothing to sell, ready to move quickly through the process, etc.).

Ultimately, it's your decision, but if you were my client, I'd have urged you to make a counter (especially if your house isn't priced exactly what you need to walk away with and you have room to negotiate).

Re: low ball offers

Where I live you cannot have PMI or nothing down. The minimum you can have down is 20%. The ceiling of what I can ask is set and the floor is set too because it is a planned community. What they offered was for less than a 1 bedroom 1 bath and I have 2 bedrooms and 2 1/2 half baths. It was almost 100,000 less than what I was asking. It was not based on comps. The comps in my market are really tightly spaced so valuing what my house is worth is relatively easy. They had nothing to back up why they were offering what they offered. It was not an offer based in reality. I almost told my realtor to tell them I wanted more than asking as the same unit came on after mine for a higher price than what I am asking....

Re: low ball offers

I understand that some buyers may not necessarily be offering what you expect, but I don't see how feeling "insulted" by any offer is going to get your home sold. If anything, the comparable unit that's priced higher than yours will help bring more attention to yours.

You never know, that could have been the max of their preapproval or something and they went in at the max they could afford or they could just be idiots. Either way I would submit a counter, JMHO.

Re: low ball offers

I can understand the feeling of being insulted. Selling your home is such an emotional decision. If I priced my home at market value and someone just threw a number at me of 100k less then asking I would be annoyed too and not take them serious and prob would not even bother countering either.

Good luck with your home sale

Re: low ball offers

I see both sides of it.
When we were selling our home and my moms home, both times the houses were fairly priced and we were in no rush to sell. SO I would have not entertained a low ball offer.
People are trying to get the best deal in this economy. I know bc we did the same thing while buying, and we ended up buying what I thought was a fair price although the sellers thought it was low.. but they HAD to sell.
You could counter offer like $5k below asking and they'll get the point.

Re: low ball offers