My officemate thinks he'll be able to buy a $130K house for $112K.

[eyesroll]

He's fighting with his Realtor on the phone right now.

The housing market in Milwaukee is such that an $18,000 underbid is going to go nowhere. But he thinks it will. "But the house across the street sold for $115,000 recently." "The garage roof needs repair." "Can we at least make the seller re-do the kitchen in the offer?"

Somebody please smack him.

[shoelace414]

1. I live in Milwaukee

and I got a 90K house for 89,500.

I'm a tough negotiator

[MrUnderhill]

2. Don't worry...

...this is a lesson that gets learned very quickly.

The Realtor should have the pleasure of smacking him.

[demnan]

3. If you really want to humble the guy

send him to Northern Virginia where he'll pay $450K for the same house (or smaller).

[ZenLefty]

6. Yeah. $112K couldn't buy you a kitty-condo in Denver.

Even if it needed new carpet. :o

[DS1]

11. It might buy you a couple square feet of land in Boston

:-)

[ZenLefty]

16. Just enough land to put a kitty condo on it!

All you need is a $450,000 construction loan and you too can own a 2-unit investment property. :D

[DS1]

24. Just make sure you pay off the local inspectors

before even picking up that shovel

[gWbush is Mabus]

4. an $18k underbid could lead to a $9k compromise

pretty smart really

[eyesroll]

7. See, that's what I thought at first...

But, no. Apparently, this IS as far as he's willing to go with the compromise.

[NewJeffCT]

8. not always

The seller could just say that this person is not serious and ignore the bid.

[Donkeyboy75]

12. We recently did that in Chicago.

And we sold by owner, so we got the pleasure of telling him ourself. I believed we called the offer "insulting," and it was 90% of asking price.

[flamingyouth]

22. The previous owner of my house had to consult her "fairies"

...before accepting our offer. Yes, I mean the kind with wings that allegedly cavort a la A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Do I win a prize for Most Bizarre Home-Buying Experience?

[Donkeyboy75]

27. Did the faeries come with the house?

And if so, how much did that add to the price? I hear that faeries are great for resale, you lucky devil, you!

[gWbush is Mabus]

5. dupe

[bleedingheart]

9. I remember a realtor who wanted us to knock 20K off the price of our house

so she could sell it faster...

We stuck to our guns as we had put a lot of money into our home to fix it up.

In the end, my husband did not take the offer to move to a new job so we didn't have to sell but we did get an offer and it was exactly for what we wanted but by then we were not going to move...the realtor nearly fell over...

[DustMolecule]

10. Well, the realtor HAS to present all legitimate offers

(even low ones)....it's up to the seller to decide.

Hey, your officemate is right to always "ASK" even if it might not be successful. You never know though, he might get lucky.

[eyesroll]

14. The Realtor did present it, and it got rejected outright,

and now officemate complained that he wasn't being treated fairly.

[bleedingheart]

15. I have a funny story about this type of situation

there was a old mansion in our area for sale for around 450k, for fun my husband and I did a Sunday walkthrough when it was open to the public.

It needed a ton of work, bathrooms, the kitchen...everything was in disrepair or needed an overhaul.

My husband jokingly gave them an offer of $280K and the realtor smiled and said she would let the owner know...

Two days later we get a call telling us that the seller was interested in making at least 300K...we nearly fell over... we were not interested but learned that day that sometimes lowballing will work.

[yellowcanine]

13. I would let him stew in his fantasy - not your problem. Sometimes it is

best to let people tilt at windmills and just stay out of their way.

[miss_kitty]

17. wow. A HOUSE for $ 112k. Hell, a House for $130k!

Sounds exactly like Seattle. In 1988. :eyes:

[flamingyouth]

19. I didn't see your post before I posted mine below

:D

[miss_kitty]

25. I hope people know I MEANT 1988,

Not a typo for 1998....condos in my 'hood, $450K-$1m+

[flamingyouth]

26. Oh yeah, I know

I bought a house in Montlake this spring. It's insane.

[flamingyouth]

18. You can buy a house for $130,000 there?

Holy shit, that's cheap. :wow:

[bearfan454]

20. 90,000 here in Central Tx

Not Austin, but small towns around here are a lot cheaper. I live in Taylor, bought mine for 70 and now owe 59. Appraises at 112.

[flamingyouth]

21. I noticed the prices when I was there

We'd be driving around and suddenly I'd shout, "Look! A house for $110,000!"

And gas for like $1.70 a gallon (at least in mid-September)!

[demnan]

23. In Northern Virginia

110K - 130K might get you a trailer, but not even the condos go that low down here.

I bought mine for $151K this year and it's 30 miles from D.C. and only has 851 sq feet!