New Home advice

[teddyp]

My wife and I are about to buy our first home.

Any advise on how low to make the offer. House is listed at $219k and has been on the market 19 days.

Any other advise is welcome as well.

[clt_capt]

How badly does your wife want the house?

What have similar houses nearby sold for?

Are other houses in the area selling now?

A lowball offer might not be a bad thing - if you are able to go in pre-qualified and have money to put down...

[nautiduck]

Teddy what area of Charlotte are you looking in? 19 Days round here in this market is a pretty short time. But with the glut of homes on the market, Id give a lowball offer a shot. Worst they can do is say no. Nothing is really selling hot in the Charlotte and surrounding areas. Also is it bank owned(foreclosure), owner in another area already, or is the owner still in the house? All of these will make a difference. What are you willing to pay for the property? Make an offer at 75% of that and see where it hits, if your close theyll counter if not theyll just say no.

[teddyp]

Huntersville.

Thanks for the info. Might make the offer tomorrow.

[Big Fish Billy]

Teddy what area of Charlotte are you looking in? 19 Days round here in this market is a pretty short time. But with the glut of homes on the market, Id give a lowball offer a shot. Worst they can do is say no. Nothing is really selling hot in the Charlotte and surrounding areas. Also is it bank owned(foreclosure), owner in another area already, or is the owner still in the house? All of these will make a difference. What are you willing to pay for the property? Make an offer at 75% of that and see where it hits, if your close theyll counter if not theyll just say no.

Find out what the house is assessed for and offer 75%....the key to getting a good deal is to walk when you don't...75% of the assessed value is usually a deal....

[longfisher]

I've purchased perhaps a half dozen homes in my life.

Absolutely every single time the closing documents were miscalculated. Absolutely every single one of those instances the error was in favor of the title company or the seller...sometimes by thousands of dollars.

I'm not talking about complex calculations or principle and interest having been wrong. I'm talking about extremely simple calculations is "what amount is 9% of another amount" or addition and subtraction errors.

They're not going to like it, though. Most title companies want to close a sale in about an hour. And, they rely on you being so interested in getting the keys to the place and hugging the little woman that they don't think you'll ever notice the little errors that they (I think deliberately) allow to creep into the process.

After the second time, I bought a cheap calculator, warned the title company I'd look at every single figure and calculation and it's saved me thousands of dollars over the years. I could put a kid through college for all the money and interest I saved.

An hour closing often takes up to six - eight hours with me now. Then it takes that amount of time again when they recalculate the numbers and schedule another closing.

Hope that helps.

LongFisher

[Agitated88]

How badly does your wife want the house?

What have similar houses nearby sold for?

Are other houses in the area selling now?

A lowball offer might not be a bad thing - if you are able to go in pre-qualified and have money to put down...

As Fred stated these two are tops on the list...now if your wife wants it bad your SOL. 19 days does not sound like a long time to be on the market...my area 3-5 month is more the norm. Probably the biggest thing to remember...it's a BUYERS market right now...if not this one, I'm sure there are others! Oh yea...you might check the county accessors website...you can see what other houses in the area are selling for as well, just to help you ball park a figure. Good luck!!

[seapower]

If it were me I'd offer them $19,000, and go from there. It's a buyer's market. Frank

[Big Fish Billy]

If it were me I'd offer them $19,000, and go from there. It's a buyer's market. Frank

I think you mean $190,000 buddy.....

[Water_Rat]

You need comps to offer a fair price. Comps are all sales in the last few months of a similar home in the same neighborhood if possible. If you think it is a good deal, make an offer set up an inspection and go from there. Many factors come into play on pricing. I would buy a book on it if I were you, plenty too choose from. Good luck!