Starting the buying a home process

The house was put on market in January as a new construction , it's been on the market for 65 days. Asking price is $ 299,900, my question is how low of an offer can I ask for.

Re: Starting the buying a home process

builders rarely go down- you usually negioiate upgrades

Re: Starting the buying a home process

With any house you make an offer on, you always want to be educated on the home values in the area. Do you know what comparable new construction homes are selling for in the area? If the home is overpriced compared to recent comparable sales, then you can justify making a low offer that is in line with other comparable sales. But if new construction homes in the area are selling for around the asking price, it will be hard to get the builder to take a low offer.

New construction homes are not usually crazy overpriced. The builders want to sell them quickly... Carrying costs cut into their profit. They usually know the local market and price the houses to sell. But they have a certain profit in mind, which can make them less negotiable.

Keep in mind, certain builders require a minimum down payment, and will often shift costs to the buyer that the seller would ordinarily pay ( transfer tax, sewer hookup). So make sure you are aware of all of the therms of the sale!

Re: Starting the buying a home process

Really that stinks thank you so much for commenting back.

Re: Starting the buying a home process

Starting the buying a home process

We looked into buying a home from a builder this summer but they were unwilling to budge on price. I should add that the home wasn't already built..it's currently a lot of land. And the amount of money we wanted was basically 1% off the price. I couldn't believe how stubborn they were on price when this house had been on the MLS for 2 years at the time. In the end, I'm glad we didn't budge because subsequently, a house built in 2005 sold for less right around the block..the house was way bigger than what the builder would have built and had a basement. When we walked away, the listing agent tried to tell us they had another offer and were going to take it unless we wanted it...we said no thank you and sure enough, to this day, no progress has been made on the house. So, in my opinion, builders would rather sit on a lot of land than budge on price.

Is the house already built? If it is, then they may be willing to negotiate b/c they will start to pay property taxes on the finished house+ land soon. I've seen the builders drop the prices of newly built houses.

ETA- I should add that we didn't just try to negotiate money off the price...we were open to money off the cost of upgrades or money towards closing cost.

Message edited 3/26/2013 11:56:39 AM.