uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

I thought the market was still a buyers market. I GUESS NOT!

Over the course of the past 8 weeks we placed offers on 3 different homes.

1st house- Received 3 offers, we were in the middle....went up again and someone still out bid us.

2nd house- Had two offers after their 1st open house wouldnt accept either of our bids. They now feel that since they got 2 offers on the first showing that they will get FULL ASKING PRICE. Now it's 6 weeks later and its still on the market and they just want to sit on it. It is not worth full asking price.

3rd house- Was a great house!! Same thing, after 1 week of being on the market they received 3 offers. We were the middle offer. The owners gave us all a ridiculously high counter. The highest offer had to sell something ( so the were not even in play).. We went up to a decent amount....and the lowest bidders DIDNT even come back with a counter. SO we were in negotiations for over a week....and thought we were basically they only ones in the game. We eneded up coming up 40k from our initial offer.... and next thing you know there is a new 4th offer even higher that they already accepted.

I am getting so fustrated!!!!!!!!! Everything on the market is gross and then when something good comes on you have multiple people making offers. Maybe we are doing something wrong. We dont start off with our best offer bc we want some negotiating room.... We also dont want to feel like we are over paying for the house either. Then with all these other bidders...it's pushing the price up. Then you never know if you should trust the broker...if they are just trying to get you up in price, they dont seem to be fully honest.

OK...I guess I just need to VENT!

Thanks for listening.

Message edited 3/21/2011 9:44:16 AM.

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

I honestly think it depends on where you are looking. I remember when DH and I were looking for a house. We put a bid on one house in Garden City, and the owners wouldn't even counteroffer becuase they said our bid was an insult. LOL oh please.

Message edited 3/21/2011 9:57:18 AM.

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

BF and I have been looking at houses for a year now and placed offers on 2 houses - both of which the sellers refused to budge from their asking price (which was WAY overpriced to begin with). To be honest, I think people are still in denial about the market. Yes, technically it should be a buyers market right now, but I think sellers are just unrealistic about what their homes are worth. They don't want to take the loss. I've seen houses sitting on the market for well over a year that have only reduced by about $10,000 that whole time. And these are houses that need a ton of work. They would rather let the house sit on the market than take a loss of $50,000 or so

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

That is exactly what had happened to us with the 2nd house, the ownersd wouldnt counter us or the other bidder. So now its still on the market 6 weeks later ( and prob will just sit there)

I do think certain areas people are willing to pay any price for...however we cant do that. The houses were in Manhasset and Port Washington and I know they will get certain buyers who are willing to pay their price but most of us wont. I cant justify overpaying what the comps are just bc there are multiple bidders...or the owners feel their house is worth a certain price.

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

The market is up. It's not what it was 2 years ago.

The right house, in a great location at the right price, if you saw it, so did other buyers. So yes, those houses go very quickly.

The "difficult" houses, overpriced or in the wrong location ARE available.

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

we went through the same exact thing here in nj. we placed offers on 3 or 4 houses over the course of 5 months .. we came close to some, got jerked around with some, lost out from a higher bidder... you name it.
it is very fustrating! all this while being pregnant and living with our in laws till we find a house is very HARD.
and i have a toddler!
i was tired, hormonal, emotional, and beat down. i thought we would be living in our in law's house indefinitly...

we finally got our hands on a house and we are in full contract. we are hoping to close 3/30. we are so close to the finish line now and its all we can think about and dream of!

it is a very stressful process but you will find a house! good luck!

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

Sorry that you are experiencing frustration.

Are you working with one agent? I think as a buyer, your interests are better served if you work with one agent, rather than making offers on different properties through the various listing agents (their job is to work for the seller and get the best price for the seller).

Ideally, you would want to work with a buyer's agent, because they can really advise you on the comps and where you should start your offer (to get the best deal for YOU, but also not start too low so that you are starting off on the wrong foot with the seller).

Also, I am a firm believer that when an agent presents an offer, it shouldn't just be all about the bottom line number. I try to paint a picture about my buyers -- who they are, why they want the home, how financially qualified they are, how quickly they are ready to move, etc. All of that can really make a buyer more attractive and help get them a better deal. Sellers are emotional about their house (unless it's an investor/builder situation), and they want to feel like they are leaving it in good hands. Sometimes, when there are multiple offers, it helps to even write a letter to the owners about what you like about the house and how you would enjoy it. . . . it just helps them see past just the dollars and cents (although it won't help you if they have a significantly higher offer, it can help if it's close!).

But a good agent who knows you and is working with you can help you get the best price possible and can help present your offer in the best light.

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

we are SO in the same shoes.

we are currently TRYING to go to contract on the 5th house we put an offer on

stick with it! it WILL happen. we were so frustrated every time but we kept finding homes we really liked and just stuck with it. it all happens for a reason and you will find (and get) the best home for you guys one of these days!

DO NOT give up and DO NOT settle!!!

my advice to you - if you love a house, put in an offer immediately. you are not committed with an offer. you can always pull out. we were loosing out on homes because they were listed and gone immediately and we wanted time to think it over.

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

we went through the same thing. We searched for a year, got into tons of bidding wars too (the first time buyer incentive didn't help either, as we were bidding against a lot of people who wanted to get in before the deadline). We almost settled too for houses I wasn't really crazy about, but we were just so tired of looking (but i'm glad it didn't work out!) In the end, the house we really loved, the sellers countered only 4k below the asking price and we accepted because we were really tired of losing out on houses and did not want to let this one go. I agree w/ the PP that if you love a house, you just have to go for it! Also in the beginning we kept losing out on houses because we kept "lowballing" our offers thinking it was a buyers market, but in a sense, if the house is priced right then it should sell near asking anyway. Good luck with everything!! You will find the right house for you!

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

Century 21 Dallow - Christine Braun


Thanks for your help!

Yes, we are working with one agent. She was the listing agent on the 1st house we put the offer on and then she has continued to show us others homes when that first deal fell through.

So she was working with us on the 2nd and 3rd deal. I just dont feel like she guides us really on what do to. I will say this house is over priced for the comps and she will agree but that is as much as she tells me.

I think though we have learned a lesson with this last house. IT really was a great home for us and top location. We really should of put our best foot forward right away...and leave a little room to go up from there. Instead we started low and went up twice...( but then again we thought we were the only ones in the game at that time). B/c the highest offer had to sell something...and another offer didnt come back after the owners countered.

So we countered a 3rd time on Sunday morning, and then later that day they received a higher offer from someone new who came into the picture.

It is fustrating!!!

Message edited 3/21/2011 1:45:33 PM.

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

Posted by maymama

we are SO in the same shoes.

we are currently TRYING to go to contract on the 5th house we put an offer on

stick with it! it WILL happen. we were so frustrated every time but we kept finding homes we really liked and just stuck with it. it all happens for a reason and you will find (and get) the best home for you guys one of these days!

DO NOT give up and DO NOT settle!!!

my advice to you - if you love a house, put in an offer immediately. you are not committed with an offer. you can always pull out. we were loosing out on homes because they were listed and gone immediately and we wanted time to think it over.

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

Posted by hunnybunnyxoxo

we went through the same exact thing here in nj. we placed offers on 3 or 4 houses over the course of 5 months .. we came close to some, got jerked around with some, lost out from a higher bidder... you name it.
it is very fustrating! all this while being pregnant and living with our in laws till we find a house is very HARD.
and i have a toddler!
i was tired, hormonal, emotional, and beat down. i thought we would be living in our in law's house indefinitly...

we finally got our hands on a house and we are in full contract. we are hoping to close 3/30. we are so close to the finish line now and its all we can think about and dream of!

it is a very stressful process but you will find a house! good luck!

Re: uggh, buying a home is Fustrating! We made offers on 3 different homes and NOTHING! HELP, ADVICE, or feel free to vent too

how frustrating! Ugh.

I'm sure you're already doing it, but I would continue to monitor the second house that wants full asking price. Buyers and sellers both need to be realistic on what a house is worth. In this case I'm referring more to the seller - just because you get multiple offers that are below asking doesn't mean you'll get full asking.

Good luck!