Ridiculous offer on house
Mar 11th 2009, 7:12 am
#76
SUPER MODERATOR
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: In a darkened room somewhere.............
Posts: 34,033
Mar 11th 2009, 4:12 pm
#77
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2008
Location: North Vancouver
Posts: 45
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Your home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it!! In a buyers market they have the upper hand and as house prices were overinflated anyway cant blame them for trying.
Mar 11th 2009, 4:40 pm
#78
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC
Posts: 1,377
Mar 11th 2009, 7:16 pm
#79
50 and wanting to go back
Joined: Apr 2007
Location: Bradford uk
Posts: 280
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Mar 11th 2009, 7:18 pm
#80
Lowering the tone
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Here and there
Posts: 7,349
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Why are you advertising it at 169,950, and not 170,000? Are people still blindly following the the notion that "4.99 looks like better value than 5.00".
In a depressed market surely this works against you! When I first saw your statement that your house was on for 169,950, my gut reaction was "Well, that's 160,000, so knock off 25% and that's 120,000."
If you advertise at 169,950, you might as well be giving them the 10 grand, because nobody - but nobody - is going to consider the 9,950 as anything other than fluff. But if you advertise at a straight 170,000, it gives you an immediate mental milestone that is just that little bit harder even for a predatory vendor to breach.
In my personal opinion, round numbers also give off the impression that this could be a straightforward transaction with someone who knows exactly what they want to get, rather than the usual "silly offer, indignation, counter offer, hmmmm, bit more, okay then" charade that goes on with a vendor who probably doesn't know what they want to get, only that they want to get as much as they can.
Don't give away 10,000 for 50 quid.
In a depressed market surely this works against you! When I first saw your statement that your house was on for 169,950, my gut reaction was "Well, that's 160,000, so knock off 25% and that's 120,000."
If you advertise at 169,950, you might as well be giving them the 10 grand, because nobody - but nobody - is going to consider the 9,950 as anything other than fluff. But if you advertise at a straight 170,000, it gives you an immediate mental milestone that is just that little bit harder even for a predatory vendor to breach.
In my personal opinion, round numbers also give off the impression that this could be a straightforward transaction with someone who knows exactly what they want to get, rather than the usual "silly offer, indignation, counter offer, hmmmm, bit more, okay then" charade that goes on with a vendor who probably doesn't know what they want to get, only that they want to get as much as they can.
Don't give away 10,000 for 50 quid.
Mar 11th 2009, 7:21 pm
#81
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 15,883
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Why are you advertising it at 169,950, and not 170,000? Are people still blindly following the the notion that "4.99 looks like better value than 5.00".
In a depressed market surely this works against you! When I first saw your statement that your house was on for 169,950, my gut reaction was "Well, that's 160,000, so knock off 25% and that's 120,000."
If you advertise at 169,950, you might as well be giving them the 10 grand, because nobody - but nobody - is going to consider the 9,950 as anything other than fluff. But if you advertise at a straight 170,000, it gives you an immediate mental milestone that is just that little bit harder even for a predatory vendor to breach.
In my personal opinion, round numbers also give off the impression that this could be a straightforward transaction with someone who knows exactly what they want to get, rather than the usual "silly offer, indignation, counter offer, hmmmm, bit more, okay then" charade that goes on with a vendor who probably doesn't know what they want to get, only that they want to get as much as they can.
Don't give away 10,000 for 50 quid.
In a depressed market surely this works against you! When I first saw your statement that your house was on for 169,950, my gut reaction was "Well, that's 160,000, so knock off 25% and that's 120,000."
If you advertise at 169,950, you might as well be giving them the 10 grand, because nobody - but nobody - is going to consider the 9,950 as anything other than fluff. But if you advertise at a straight 170,000, it gives you an immediate mental milestone that is just that little bit harder even for a predatory vendor to breach.
In my personal opinion, round numbers also give off the impression that this could be a straightforward transaction with someone who knows exactly what they want to get, rather than the usual "silly offer, indignation, counter offer, hmmmm, bit more, okay then" charade that goes on with a vendor who probably doesn't know what they want to get, only that they want to get as much as they can.
Don't give away 10,000 for 50 quid.
I would never have seen it that way.
169,900 most likely but never 160,000
Mar 11th 2009, 7:28 pm
#82
In limbo!
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 329
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Why are you advertising it at 169,950, and not 170,000? Are people still blindly following the the notion that "4.99 looks like better value than 5.00".
In a depressed market surely this works against you! When I first saw your statement that your house was on for 169,950, my gut reaction was "Well, that's 160,000, so knock off 25% and that's 120,000."
If you advertise at 169,950, you might as well be giving them the 10 grand, because nobody - but nobody - is going to consider the 9,950 as anything other than fluff. But if you advertise at a straight 170,000, it gives you an immediate mental milestone that is just that little bit harder even for a predatory vendor to breach.
In my personal opinion, round numbers also give off the impression that this could be a straightforward transaction with someone who knows exactly what they want to get, rather than the usual "silly offer, indignation, counter offer, hmmmm, bit more, okay then" charade that goes on with a vendor who probably doesn't know what they want to get, only that they want to get as much as they can.
Don't give away 10,000 for 50 quid.
In a depressed market surely this works against you! When I first saw your statement that your house was on for 169,950, my gut reaction was "Well, that's 160,000, so knock off 25% and that's 120,000."
If you advertise at 169,950, you might as well be giving them the 10 grand, because nobody - but nobody - is going to consider the 9,950 as anything other than fluff. But if you advertise at a straight 170,000, it gives you an immediate mental milestone that is just that little bit harder even for a predatory vendor to breach.
In my personal opinion, round numbers also give off the impression that this could be a straightforward transaction with someone who knows exactly what they want to get, rather than the usual "silly offer, indignation, counter offer, hmmmm, bit more, okay then" charade that goes on with a vendor who probably doesn't know what they want to get, only that they want to get as much as they can.
Don't give away 10,000 for 50 quid.
Good in theory but the flip side is that if you go on at £170K the chance are that on places like rightmove the searches are generated on minimum and maximum prices and if you put in £170 then it disregards all those outside of the minimums and maximums. You are reducing the numbers that can find you on the searches and therefore could miss vital searches for the sake of a fiver or fifty quid or whatever.
Mar 11th 2009, 7:33 pm
#83
Lowering the tone
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Here and there
Posts: 7,349
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Good in theory but the flip side is that if you go on at £170K the chance are that on places like rightmove the searches are generated on minimum and maximum prices and if you put in £170 then it disregards all those outside of the minimums and maximums. You are reducing the numbers that can find you on the searches and therefore could miss vital searches for the sake of a fiver or fifty quid or whatever.
Mar 11th 2009, 7:35 pm
#84
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,175
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
These buyers "found out" that we are emigrating and my husband has already gone.
Made an offer of £50,000 less than asking price. I have already reduced it by £20,000 so that makes it £70,000 less than the valuation in January.
Told them no. I will leave it for sale if necessary but talk about taking the pxxx. I am not unreasonable and have expected to knock some more off but I am really annoyed by the cheek of this couple.
I wish I knew who had told them my cicumstances but sometimes this is such a small town
Made an offer of £50,000 less than asking price. I have already reduced it by £20,000 so that makes it £70,000 less than the valuation in January.
Told them no. I will leave it for sale if necessary but talk about taking the pxxx. I am not unreasonable and have expected to knock some more off but I am really annoyed by the cheek of this couple.
I wish I knew who had told them my cicumstances but sometimes this is such a small town
That is so nasty, dont worry once you come here you will find most people are not that nasty.
Where in Alberta are you heading?
Mar 11th 2009, 7:46 pm
#85
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,682
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Good in theory but the flip side is that if you go on at £170K the chance are that on places like rightmove the searches are generated on minimum and maximum prices and if you put in £170 then it disregards all those outside of the minimums and maximums. You are reducing the numbers that can find you on the searches and therefore could miss vital searches for the sake of a fiver or fifty quid or whatever.
Jingsamichty is right too and makes a very persuasive and rational argument. It is flawed, however, because very few buying decisions are made by the rational mind. We all know that $4.99 is really $5 because we can't even be bothered to pick up the penny change, but marketers and behavioral scientists can give you lots of evidence that something priced at $4.99 will sell a lot more than the same thing priced at $5.00. Somewhere in our subconscious we see a 4 and think it is a good price. If we see a 5 we think it is too expensive.
The same lack of rationality applies when we are buying a house. All those programs about staging a home are right. If we walk into a house for sale and the furniture is a bit tatty, the walls are faded and there is a slight smell of cat pee we immediately think it is overpriced. If it has been staged by a designer, with brand new rented furniture artfully arranged, new and subtle paint colours on the walls, and fresh bread baking in the oven we immediately think this is a place we can live in.
At a rational level we know the furniture does not belong to the house, and a couple of weekends work with a paint roller and carpet cleaner will get the first place up to the same standard as the second. At a subconscious level there are thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of dollars difference in the price we are prepared to pay - if we are prepared to pay anything at all for the first home.
Mar 11th 2009, 7:53 pm
#86
Pea Brain
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: TBD
Posts: 6,005
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
What's nasty about it?
They bid, you counter offer. If you don't meet in the middle somewhere agreeable, there's no deal.
No one gets hurt, unless you're so thin skinned as to be upset and surprised that someone wants to pay the least amount possible for what's likely to be the largest purchase of their life. Just get over it and find another buyer that's better suited to you.
Mar 11th 2009, 7:58 pm
#87
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 88
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Hi Tina
We accepted a revised offer yesterday
still over 30K below our original asking price ...booo 
. First offer really crappy. Said I'd rather rent it. A week and a half later they've raised it. Not a huge amount admittedly, but we've decided to cut and run with that.
Still it lets us get on with our lives, and buy the type of place we want in Canada, rather than have to sort out renting and extra insurance and change of mortgage fee (of £1,000) .. etc....etc..
Also, the stress of trying to keep the place tidy with a 7 yr old and a 2 yr old has been driving me nuts!!!!
We thought we would have to release some money and buy a smaller place over there whilst keeping hold of this house - but there's also capital gains to think of..and we worked out we'd have to pay a few more grand out selling later anyway.
Finger crossed it all goes through now
You do really have to do whatever feels comfortable for you. I appreciate it's a difficult call to make.
Lynsey
We accepted a revised offer yesterday
still over 30K below our original asking price ...booo . First offer really crappy. Said I'd rather rent it. A week and a half later they've raised it. Not a huge amount admittedly, but we've decided to cut and run with that. Still it lets us get on with our lives, and buy the type of place we want in Canada, rather than have to sort out renting and extra insurance and change of mortgage fee (of £1,000) .. etc....etc..
Also, the stress of trying to keep the place tidy with a 7 yr old and a 2 yr old has been driving me nuts!!!!
We thought we would have to release some money and buy a smaller place over there whilst keeping hold of this house - but there's also capital gains to think of..and we worked out we'd have to pay a few more grand out selling later anyway.
Finger crossed it all goes through now
You do really have to do whatever feels comfortable for you. I appreciate it's a difficult call to make.
Lynsey
Mar 11th 2009, 8:08 pm
#88
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2008
Location: Red Deer, Alberta
Posts: 671
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
Husbands job is in Olds
Really depends where I manage to get one. Then we shall probably try and live somewhere in the middle
Mar 11th 2009, 8:59 pm
#89
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: 9 years in the canadian trucking industry... Niverville MB
Posts: 4,423
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
These buyers "found out" that we are emigrating and my husband has already gone.
Made an offer of £50,000 less than asking price. I have already reduced it by £20,000 so that makes it £70,000 less than the valuation in January.
Told them no. I will leave it for sale if necessary but talk about taking the pxxx. I am not unreasonable and have expected to knock some more off but I am really annoyed by the cheek of this couple.
I wish I knew who had told them my cicumstances but sometimes this is such a small town
Made an offer of £50,000 less than asking price. I have already reduced it by £20,000 so that makes it £70,000 less than the valuation in January.
Told them no. I will leave it for sale if necessary but talk about taking the pxxx. I am not unreasonable and have expected to knock some more off but I am really annoyed by the cheek of this couple.
I wish I knew who had told them my cicumstances but sometimes this is such a small town
Mar 11th 2009, 10:35 pm
#90
RETIRED Realtor
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Posts: 2,087
Re: Ridiculous offer on house
This thread just goes to prove thats its emotions, and not logic, that rules the buying and selling of houses.