is it a buyers market ?

[brownlayde]

i recently put a offer in for a house that was originally was going for 280.000
and was reduced to 239,900 with a sellers assist , but my question is this i put a offer in for 200,000 and the listing agent told my agent that 1 the sellers were anxious to sell , but some one put in a offer for lower than what they were asking and they declined , what game are these people playing , humor me because this is my first home buying experience.

[debtisbad]

Just be careful in this market. Homes are not excalating in price unless you are in a high demand market like south Florida. Interest rates are rising. Rising rates=lower price. Lower rates=higher price. Best possible position is to buy when rates are high and refi when rates lower! That is optimum, but difficult to predict. Since you are a first time buyer, make sure that you will stay in the house at least 5 years. Make sure that your job will not require you to relo. Many a filer on this board had to move and could not sell their house quickly enough. Also, and this is a biggie, check into the property taxes on the property. My lawyer has had many people file due to high taxes. For example, in this county there is a town where the taxes on a 100k house are approx. 3,500/yr. That does not make economic sense. I do not even know why they are so high other than they just built a new jail, high school and their spending is out of control (hum....sounds like our federal govt....) Anyway, just check all these things out. DO NOT TRUST YOUR REALTOR as many will not even know this info or will say, taxes increase a little blah, blah, blah..... Now, there is nothing wrong with ownership. It can be a good thing, BUT it is important to cover all bases. Good luck, and let me know if you have any ?????'s.

[brownlayde]

buying first home

yeah i offered 200,000 and you say that,s to low but they only paid 147,600 for the house i don,t think that,s too low but they declined anyway.

[krobin02]

Wow!

I paid $140,000 for my house 9 years ago, today it's worth $450,000.

That was one hell of a nice investment wend!

[brownlayde]

like i said i,m new to this , learning new things everyday

[SinkingFast]

Negotiating the deal is the primary service and function of Real Estate Agents. Disinterested, 3rd party people, who can step back from the situation and discuss the issues rationally.

Sellers are attached to their homes and often feel the property is worth more than it actually is.

Buyers are out there to get the best deal possible. The most bang for the buck as it were.

Low ball offers infuriate sellers. Would you like to be the buyer that low balls a seller, and then try to talk rationally with them??!! That's what REA's do every day. Calm sellers down. Explain the pros and cons of the offer. Suggest counters to come back with. The objective is to keep the lines of communication open. As long as people are talking, there's a chance to pull the deal together.

On the flip side, REA's should counsel buyers not to insult sellers with low ball offers. There are REA's out there that do it. That's their specialty. Hammer away at sellers with low ball offers until they sell or the REA gives up trying. Then they move on to another property to infuriate someone else. Sometimes that strategy backfires on the buyer. The Buyers may pass on a really good house in great shape that needs no repairs at all. Total move-in condition. And wind up with a house that has hidden secrets.

Houses that are priced right are priced that way for a reason. Just because the people came down on the asking does not mean the house was over priced to begin with or that they have all the room in the world to negotiate. They may be in a bind and need to sell.

Been there, Done that, Got the T-Shirt.

[krobin02]

Man, that sucks wend! I'm sorry!