Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

My husband and I just started to look for homes about 2 maybe 3 weeks ago. We've been house hunting every weekend since. We did find something we liked. Asking $359,900. Not to say we can't afford that price range but this house needs work. It has different carpet in every room. Old, Old bathroom, kitchen. Paneling everywhere. The house is a cape and there was another house right around the corner from it that sat on the market for 7 months (before being sold just a week ago) at the same price range (their starting asking price was $5,000 lower, don't know what they accepted) bigger property, same cape, everything fixed/updated inside. This house has been on the market 2 weeks and I think we are the only ones to even look at it. We've seen it twice on weekends and no one is ever there. We offered a very low $310,000 and we then again $325,000 but I don't want to go much higher b/c of the work I do want to do before I move in. But everyone tells me to stick to my gut. And my gut says don't go more than $330,000. The owners are holding on to our 2nd bid and waiting to see if they get more offers. I am so anxious! B/c they didn't say NO, but it's not a YES either. Don't know if I should continue waiting or go look around some more. Just so tired of looking at houses!! Not much to work with for the area I want for under $375,000

Message edited 5/10/2006 1:26:46 AM.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

What town is the house in?

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

I think a lot of the houses on the market now are priced to sell, and that may well be their real price. It's not like last year where everything was increased by $20-$50K.

Our house needed everything redone also and we only got it for $14K less than asking. If you are dealing with a realtor, it may be an idea to get them to run the comps for similar homes in the area.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Go with your gut!!! Just b/c they dont accept now doesnt mean they wont come back to you, especially if they need a quick sale.
The market is sitting. 2-3 weeks isnt a long time to be looking, so if this offer doesnt work out im sure you will find something else.
Good Luck.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

you're offering 10% less than asking on a house that needs work. IMO, I don't think that's low at ALL!

good luck!
ETA: with more than 33,000 houses for sale on LI, sellers are coming way down!! this is a whole new market.

Message edited 5/10/2006 9:10:21 AM.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Is this house in Levittown? If it is I think I know the one you are referring to
Scott

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Posted by ODonnell

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

you're offering 10% less than asking on a house that needs work. IMO, I don't think that's low at ALL!

good luck!
ETA: with more than 33,000 houses for sale on LI, sellers are coming way down!! this is a whole new market.

I'm really not conviced that the market has tanked so much. My sister had her house on the market since last Summer and just got an offer for full asking without having to drop her price! I also noticed this morning that a house on a nearby street that has been for sale since Christmas is under contract. Granted, I don't know what it sold for, but things seem to be moving again

Message edited 5/10/2006 9:18:20 AM.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Go with your gut. We had a similar experience... we started looking about 3 months ago. We stumbled on an incredibly beautiful fixer-upper so we put in a bid. They were asking $350k (this is in the philly area), so we offered $330k. Turned out there were a couple of other bidders and this was just the first week. So we upped our bid to $350k. The broker kept telling us we should offer more considering the other offers, but as much as the house had so much curb appeal, it was in shambles and would require just way too much money to bring it to a living condition to justify offering any more money. In the end, we lost the house to a couple that offered $15k over asking price. At first I was sooooooooo disappointed, but you know what? We later found out that during the inspection it turned out that the house is RIDDLED with termites, has serious structural defects, and many, MANY more, that will end up costing over $20k, and that's BEFORE doing any aesthetic repairs! I'm SO glad we trusted our instincts because in the end, we made an offer on a different house and we ended up getting it right away, it's about 1000 sq.ft larger, with more land, and the inspection came back almost flawless.

So, my point - go with your gut and trust your instincts. If you happen to lose the house because of your hesitations, so be it. Something else will come along that's even better, I promise! Just make sure you stick to your price range and don't get in over your heads financially... you'll regret that more, I can assure you.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Bsgell2 has an EXCELLENT point!

maybe you can get the house inspected before you think of upping the bid?

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

I don't think the fact that they haven't accepted your bid means that it was too low. I think it has more to do with the fact that the house has only been on the market 2 weeks.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

It is all such a game when you make an offer. You did not offer too low, give it time. We just made an offer for a house that is $575,000, they came down to $550,000 right away and then said that they weren't going to neg. anymore. I offered $540,000 and they agreed. I still might try to get it for lower after the engineers report.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

We lost out on many houses due to bidding too low and on each one a couple of days later, we were happy we did. They all had things about them that we didn't like. Even the last one, that I loved so much, would have taken a lot of work and money to make it look the way we wanted and we would have been in debt up to our ears. So stick to your guns and wait it out.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

Oh I am soooo weak....

Tonight after work my dh and I went to look at more homes but in Deer Park. This is just like the next town over from the town i would prefer to live in. And after seeing the houses, which were all fixed up/updated but... the neighborhood looks mighty questionable. I don't know long island well but let's say these area of Deer Park were not the best. My real estate agent tells me that another bid is coming in on the cape we like. Don't know if she was lying but....we had already planned on possibly upping the offer and after seeing more homes in our price range, well we offered more for the cape. $341,000. So anxious.... Our agent prob didn't call tonight since it was already late so we might not hear till the weekend. Although a house for Mother's Day for me sounds fabulous!

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

It sounds to me like they may be holding out just b/c they're waiting for you to go up again since you did once already. Obviously, if this is "the" house and you have to have it then do what you have to do to get it. If it's not then keep in mind there are a lot of houses on the market and a good number of them are overpriced. You can always let them counter. And I'm sure they're aware of this too. The fact that they haven't says something.

Re: Was Our Bid Too Low?!?

IMO...the house market is at somewhat of a standstill..

Hard to say if the bid was low or not, not knowing the area..

In some...the bid could easily be low and in some it could be ok...

I know plenty of houses that need quite a lot of work and are going for high 300K prices...and people are standing in line to snatch them...

others are staying on the market..

And as far as comparatives are concerned...I wouldn't bother looking at that so much...
I do in fact see a change in the market.

Something you should look at is how long it has been on the market!

If it has been a month or longer...the bid could be justified...

If it is a new home to the market...i wouldn't bid low...