For example, the biggest negative with the home is being adjacent to a busier street, which is why it was value priced. The buyers agent used this as a reason for her offer. This is hollow because you are either willing to live in the house or not and saving another $10,000 or so won’t make the issue go away or be worth it.

Instead of going back and forth we countered at our bottom line price of $250,000. The buyer comes back at $247,500 and says “This is the highest they can go because they want to put 20% down and they only have 20% of $247,500″. First of all I don’t believe it and think they are just making it up. But I called their bluff and said “There is no reason to drop the price by $2,500. Instead we will give you 20% of $2,500 which equals $500. All you need is another $500 down payment on the extra $2,500 on the purchase price.” The buyers agent tried to portray this as a $2,500 problem but it really was a $500 issue and for $500 I was willing to contribute it and be done with the deal. They ended up agreeing and we are in contract.

The lesson is when negotiating a real estate deal don’t make up a silly reason for your actions. If you are making an offer that can’t be defended then your agent is just better off saying “My client instructed me to write this up and they can be somewhat difficult to deal with.” This is something the other agent can wrap their hands around and it will make for a smoother negotiations.

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Home sales in central Ohio home have exceeded 2010 for the last four months according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. The 1,543 homes sold in October marks an 8.6 percent increase over the 1,421 homes sold in October of 2010. Home sales in September were up 16.6 percent compared to the year before. Year-to-date, home sales (January through October 2011) are only 2.1 percent behind 2010 and closing the gap. Homes put in contract last month (1,379) were up 46 percent from a year ago making October the sixth straight month of increased contracts.

“The number of homes put into contract have been up for the last several months,” said Rick Benjamin, 2011 President of the Comumbus Board of REALTORS. “However, contract failures – cancellations caused largely by declined morgtage applications or failures in loan underwriting from appraised values coming in below the negotiated price continue to be a problem for central Ohio buyers.”

Total housing inventory at the end of October fell 23.3 percent to 13,827 existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.1-month supply at the current sales pace, up from an 8.7-month supply in September. The average sale price for single family homes and condominiums year to date is $157,327, down 2.4 percent from homes sold January through October 2010.

“Affordability conditions this year have been the most favorable on record since 1970.” said Benjamin. “As mortgage interest rates continue to remain low, more first time home buyers, investors and move up buyers are being drawn into the housing market.”

http://www.10kresearch.com/sortable/Columbus-OH/2011-10/Main.htm

“I would like to respond to your feedback from your showing this morning in my home.  I appreciate you taking the time to show our home to your client; however I must tell you how unprofessional I felt your comments were.  I made a point to let you know this morning that we had been out of town until late last night, and that I really didn’t have the time to get my house as I prefer it to be.  As a realtor, surely you can tell when you walk into a home whether or not the homeowners take pride in their property.  When someone is out of town, clearly the home is closed up, etc.  By looking at my house, you should have been able to see that I had clearly taken the short amount of time I had to have the house more than presentable for you and your client.  I’m not sure that the “house is well kept” is very congruent with it “smelling like dog”.  For what it’s worth…..your comments are the only ones we have received of this nature.

I’m certain you don’t particularly care whether or not your comments are offensive, but I must tell you that they were.”

Homeowner

There was a short sale listed at $195,000 that needed some but not a lot of work. It didn’t sell and we purchased it at sheriff sale for a lot less then $195,000, did around $8,000 of work and then sold it for $230,000. Buyer’s didn’t recognize a good deal at $195,000 and were inflating the amount of work that was needed. The work was manageable and buyers were now willing to pay top dollar for the same property improved.

When buying a home don’t dig in your heels and make emotional decisions. Learn to work with your agent so they can talk you thru the choices and recognize a good deal when you see it.

The market doesn’t care about these issues. If anything it can devalue your home if you are too motivated. Besides, it won’t help you focus on what matters most, how your home competes.

One thing I do for my sellers is to literally show them some of the homes they are competing with. We take an hour or so and view 3 to 6 homes. It can be an eye opening experience to walk thru the competition. This helps sellers be more in control and to price their home more effectively.

About 6 months ago I closed on a listing of mine.  What started off as great transaction, ended in much difficulty.  The buyer’s who offered on the home were working alone.  Big mistake!  First, they believed the sellers would accept an offer much lower than asking because they would not have to pay a buyer’s agent.  Wrong! Commission is paid out whether you have a buyer’s agent or not.  But, that is for another time, another story.  Since they were not represented, it was my responsibility to mediate this entire transaction.   Buyers were upset they didn’t get closing costs, correct inspections or remedies and possession of the home at the date and time they wanted.  Why? Because the did not have an agent.  The buyers weren’t taught to read through a Real Estate contract properly and cross their t’s and dot their i’s.  Parts of the contract were filled in incorrectly and others were just left completely blank.  Yet, they signed off on those documents.  Had they been represented by a licensed Realtor, they could have avoided this entire mess.  Sellers decided it was their own mistake for going unrepresented and refused to budge and help the buyers on any remedies or monies towards the home.

Most of my transactions are customarily done with buyer and seller present.  This was one transaction where they needed to be seperated in order to see it close properly.  Bottom line? Had the buyers chose to use an agent, we could have had a smooth transaction from start to finish.   I negotiated properly and hard on my client’s behalf.  We made decisions together that I knew would benefit my client.  The buyer’s had no one in their corner and in this transaction, they fell a little short.

http://www.10kresearch.com/sortable/Columbus-OH/2011-02/main.htm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42219385/ns/business-real_estate/

The belief is foreclosures and short sales drive down the price of re-sales and people may not be willing to spend more on a new build. As with all articles about real estate keep in mind how averages and norms across the country do not define what is happening locally. For that matter the market in Delaware is the same as in Blacklick.  A lot of builders have picked up lots at a discount and have realigned their pricing and markets. In some developing neighborhoods they are competing well  with re-sales since the new builds have a competitive advantage with lower lot prices.