I am in the process of buying a house and am probbably paying too much for it. How can I get the price down???

Question

Before exchanging contracts that is . Any tips?????

Answer 1

if you have had a survey done get quotes for the work that the surveyor recommended.
Then talk to the estate agent and say "I have had these quotes - because of all the work needed I wish to revise my offer"
You might not be able to get it cheaper but atleast you will have tried.

Answer 2

Many times and in most housing markets you are not going to place a bid on a home for the price that the sellers are asking for a home. However, if you are looking to buy a home in a very hot market, in an area where homes are selling extremely quickly, or if you find a home that is listed well below market value you may want to bid the asking price to have a good chance at getting the home before you are outbid. Placing a bid on a home and signing the purchase agreement does not guarantee that you have bought the house or that the sellers have to sell you the home. The property sellers have to accept your bid for the contact to be legally binding. Once the purchase price has been agreed upon and the real estate purchase contract has been signed by all parties you will normally have 5-7 days to submit a mortgage application to a mortgage professional. However, since most Realtors will require a pre-approval letter before you can place a bid on a home most of the you will already have a mortgage application submitted before you have submitted your purchase offer. Submitting your loan application to a mortgage lender will generally begin the mortgage process and the financing of your new home.
http://www.lendermark.com

Answer 3

First off, are you represented by a realtor? If not, you may consider getting one.
Second, have you made a written offer and has it been accepted? If so, you may be stuck having to renig on the deal. If not, just back out and get a realtor.
Third, has any earnest money been given? If so and you renig, you may have to go to court and fight to get it back.
Fourth and most important, are there any conditions set forth other than the purchase price? Have they been met? If not, this may be a way out of the deal, leaving you the option to submit a new bid at a lower price.

If you have a good idea what you are doing and are familiar with the laws in you area, you can easily buy a home on you own. If not, you should seriously consider a realtor.

Finally, if there is a loan involved, most lenders will not loan for more than the appraised price of the property. Here again, may be an out for you.....

Answer 4

It depends on where you're located in the buying process. If you've only just made an offer, then you can revise it (or retract it). I know this because I'm selling, and have had buyers cancel their offer, and another one amended it 48 hours after placing it.

In England, you can pull out any time up until the exchange of contracts. Obviously, it can be costly especially if you've had a survey done. If you've paid for searches and survey, then you could try and get the price down (especially if the survey highlights problems) but bear in mind the seller has the right to pull the property off the market which would leave you out of pocket.

Answer 5

Have inspections/estimates done on the house by professionals. Most realtors know good companies who will do this. If problems are found, then these things can be used to offset the fair market value of the house. Particularly helpful are foundation and roof inspections. These two things can be very expensive to repair, and are most often neglected by homeowners (as compared to landscaping and internal finish work/remodeling).

Avoid "professional inspectors" and use instead workmen who actually work in that specific field -- a roofer, plumber, a mason, etc. There are many so-called "inspectors" who have NO clue whatsoever about what they are looking at. I've worked with many of these inspectors or came along afterwards. I have my own roofing business. I have seen inspectors tell people an entire roof was shot when it only needed minor repair and also tell people that a roof needed minor repair when it was totally shot. So beware of these types of "housing inspectors" and get a true professional.

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot to do to get the price down other than flat-out negotiation. (Get a good realtor -- they are worth their money). How desperate are the owners to sell? How good is their realtor? How do the appraisals shape up? (Beware of appraisers also, for the same reason as above -- many just don't know what they are looking at, and totally miss key problems) Fair market value is just that -- once you know what the house should be worth and what problems exist.

Answer 6

Welll if you haven't agreed on a contract you or your Realtor should negotiate a lower price. If you've already entered into a contract, then you're screwed to put it bluntly.

Since you give the impression that negotiating is foreign to you or makes you feel uncomfortable, I would suggest that you hire a qualified Realtor to do the work for you. They're trained to do that and they deal with sellers and sellers' Realtors all the time. Negotiating is as much a natural part of buying a home as is getting a termite inspection. Most sellers have already factored in a reduction when they price their homes anyway. A Realtor will also give a professional opinion as to whether the price of the home is too high or not, and therefore ease your worries.

I'm not sure what market you're buying in, but a Realtor's loss in commissions is only nominal as a result of a reduction in price. For example, a Realtor who makes 3% on a an $850,000 house in California will only lose $750 of his $20K+ commission by negotiating from $850K to $825K.

Answer 7

I always go for a full survey as a way of reducing the house price. Yes it costs more (£750ish) but you usually get your money back when you start negotiating about repairs that need carrying out.

If you think you're paying too much for the house, and you are not happy, don't buy it. There's nothing worse than sitting in your new house on the first day feeling like you've been ripped off.

Then again, 3 years down the line, it'll probably be worth twice as much and you'll wonder why you made such a fuss about it.

Answer 8

Do you have any "loopholes"? such as: contingent upon inspection? Inspect the property and find little (or big problems) with the property. You can then negotiate the price down based on the repairs. Remember, you make money on the house when you buy it..... Not when you sell it. You can't get a better price once you have purchased the property.

Zillow.com, and BankofAmerica.com will give you free evaluations on almost any property in the U.S. Don't get emotional about the property. in other words don't "kiss" the house. If they won't lower the price, get out and find another property. Remeber, the deal of the decade comes around about once a week! :)

Answer 9

Fact is, in real estate there's no such thing as 'value for money' anymore. Everyone is paying too much for properties, including myself. It's a sellers market. You can try to bring the price down, but at the same time, if you have already agreed to it verbally and the house is off the market because of this, then don't mess the sellers around!

Answer 10

Yeah, just withdraw your offer and substitute a lower one. You're not bound for anything until the exchange of contracts. However, the seller is under no obligation to accept your lower offer and may cancel the sale. Keep in mind that you can also get 'gazumped' at any time prior to exchange of contracts and left out in the cold. What does your estate agent say?

Answer 11

Get the facts regarding comparable properties that have sold recently in the area. Look for all defects & problems in the property that will cause you extra expense. These will give you good logical grounds for a reduction.

You are however on to a loser if the seller can readily sell to someone else! If it is a seller's market forget it.

Is the seller really keen to sell or has to sell? Leave your revised offer to the last minute. This is not very ethical though in my opinion but this is someone that wants more than the proeprty is worth according to you so how ethical is the seller???