How can you tell when a realtor is asking way too much for a home?

Question

I am trying to buy a home in a fairly small community south of Houston. My options are (obviously) buy new or old construction. I have found a victorian (built in 1930) home that is rather cute, but it has flaws. It needs AC, leveling, and some construction work (i.e. it needs some walls torn out and put up because it's laid out weird and is separated into a duplex). They are asking 130 for it, but I don't think that with as much work that needs to be put into it, it is worth that much money (appraised at 89), especially when you can buy a move in ready home for the same price. To top it off, the owner, who by the way is a realtor, is lying about what she paid for it, and sugar coating how much work she has honestly put into it. When we offered her 95, she said no; asked her how much she would take, she said not really any less than what she was asking; confronted with repairs, it's not her problem. What I need to know is if I am being reasonable with my expectations.

I know how much she paid for the home. Hold your breath.... 37,500! The other homes in the area are appraising at around the same 89.

BTW, the house has been on the market for 2 years now...

Answer 1

To me, yes, you are being reasonable. Do you know what she paid for the place? A lot of places Auditors post that information on the web anymore, you just go to the County Auditor website and put in the address and presto, there is the price paid for the house. Another thing to help you are the online property valuation tools. I particularly like Zillow.com. Again, if you put in the address, it will pull up information on the house and give you their Zestimate of what its worth. There are some other similar tools on the web too. The last thing is though- you might just need to move on to another place. If you arent willing to go up, and she isnt willing to go down, then you arent going to buy the house. It is her house, and she can be as unreasonable as she chooses to be with it. If everyone else agrees with you, the house just will never sell. If you dont find anything over the next few months, you can always come back and make another offer and see if she has lowered her expectations at that point.

Answer 2

ok, first. What it needs, and what would be nice. AC, walls torn out to single family house, are nice to have. Remember, someone out there may like the house the way it is. Especially a prospective landlord looking for another rental. Leveling is probably structual. With the apprailsal at 89, 130 is not so far outside reality. Houses hardly ever sell for thier tax appraisal amount. You can check online for the amount she paid for the house. There are several web sites that will give you past prices paid for houses in your area. As far as how much she has done to the house, a house inspecter is a must for you in this situation. $200 to $300 for an inspecter to tell you what must structually be done, and also to a point tell you what had been done recently, is a small price to pay for piece of mind. An appraisal done with the proposed repairs figured in is also a way to go. That will tell you the worth now, and the worth when all the repairs are done. And this will figure in the single family concept price, which will be different from the mulit-family concept price. Your expectations are reasonable from your point of view. Remember, you are trying to buy what you see the house to be. She's selling what the house is. The two hardly ever are the same. Good luck!

Answer 3

You have the Realtor get you a list of what houses in that area and are comparable to the house that you want to purchase have sold for. You hire an inspector to examine the home and they will let you know what will need to be done to get the house up to date. If they say that the roof has to be replaced within the year, The Realtor knows that they can't sell that house till the owner has had a new roof installed. Same for the heating, plumbing, wiring, any leaks, etc. It is well worth it to do this.Also stand outside for a long time and watch who is coming and going. This will give you an indication of the condition of the neighborhood. Drive by often. Ask the neighbors what they like or dislike about the neighborhood. Ask them if anyone has died in the home. With all of this information, you can negotiate with the Realtor better. Also know that Realtors will come down on their commission to help you cover some of the repair expenses.Definitely get the comparison info and the home inspector though. We did and we were really glad that we did. The home owner had to do some expensive work before they could sell us the home.

Answer 4

I'm guessing that you were the one who had it appraised. If you are getting a loan, your mortgage company won't give you a loan for more than the appraisal amount.

It sounds like you're dealing with one of the (more common), lying, lazy realtors, and realtors are the worst to buy a house from, because they know how to screw you.

My advice is that if the original appraisal is recent, show it to her and be straight with her. Most importantly, be prepared to walk.

Your expectations seem very reasonable.

Answer 5

Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
I want $2 million for my home, but is anyone willing to pay that for it? No. Maybe it is worth $150,000 because that is what someone is willing to pay for it and it is a good value to them.

Property that is overpriced tends to remain on the market a very long time unless an un-educated buyer happens along and I don't mean they have a degree. I mean they don't know what they are looking at. Eventually they may lower the price but it's a chance you take; someone may just snatch it away from you while you play the game.

If it stresses you at this point because you know it isn't worth that amount, you should probably keep looking.

Use good judgement.

Answer 6

You can tell when a realtor is lying because their lips are moving.
DUDE, the work you describe sounds fairly MAJOR to me
Screw her dude, she is asking too much, find another house, or tell her you will come back when she has gotten some sense into her head.
Realtors make the worst people to deal with because they are...well, realtors.
If you wanted to pay 89, you should have offered 75 and worked your way up......

Answer 7

As a mortgage broker, from my experience you would not get a mortgage if the asking price is $41K over the appriased value. That alone should tell you to either walk away or only offer the fair market value for the property.

Answer 8

Ask about the value of neighboring homes. The price should be within the same range.

Answer 9

i'm a Realtor. and that i do no longer think of it extremely is honest to take 6% out of the sell. I do think of it extremely is honest to offer 3% to the agent who brings the customer in spite of the shown fact that. The itemizing agent I agree does not do plenty extra then you definately ought to different than gown up and look profesional. some issues they do which would be significant in spite of the fact it is positioned your place on your close by mls. this helps all different brokers, and public, to work out that your supplies is for sell. you are able to in basic terms try this in case you belong on your close by asociation. in case you place your place in the newspaper prevalent for the dimensions it extremely is obtainable it is going to fee you, nicely countless money. Oh in addition they ascertain you're shielded from criminal strikes. Over look contracts and what no longer. in addition they evaluate the fee of your place so which you would be able to get the main money from the sell. To intense no person buys, to low you lose money. you are able to no longer stroll down your street and look how plenty somebody else is promoting their domicile for and price yours the comparable. nicely except each and every thing is precisely the comparable.... 3 hundred and sixty 5 days geared up, subject, paint, landscaping, home equipment, and so plenty extra. So with that 2% for the itemizing agent is honest to me. Or a collection fee no remember how plenty you sell your place for. it is all nogotible between you and your agent. yet you are able to consistently do a "for sell by proprietor", making particular that it extremely is an as is sell so which you're actually not in charge later. this suggests the customer is in charge for doing all the inspections before signing something. keep in mind you get what you pay for. So in case you sell your place by your self. very stable good fortune to you. in basic terms keep in mind you will no longer have suggestions from brokers bringing people to coach your place. In todays industry it facilitates plenty. in case you will locate brokers keen to take much less then 3% it is stable. it quite relies upon on what you choose them to do for you. warning: paying 3% does no longer propose you get 3% of paintings out of your agent. in case you utilize an agent do your homework. perhaps ask for a number of there previous consumers and communicate with them. And the remark with regard to the hamburger flipper....are you kidding me. If it sort of feels extremely elementary circulate and get a real supplies license and tell me whats extra undemanding, your job or mine.