The Glade 4.0

So I put on offer in on a house. Something very nervewracking in the first place for a first time homebuyer. Got the contract signed and everything and my realtor calls and says that the seller's agent says that he received another contract on the house and that he would be presenting them both at 5pm today. My offer was about 1.9% below asking price. So now I've got to raise my offer up to full price. He said the seller's agent could very well be lying about the other offer, but he might not be.

Ugh...

When I bought my home I had the advantage of being able to make the seller's equity out of the down payment and assuming the loan was was within our preapproved limit. Ours was one of three offers submitted to the seller on the same day It was the lowest total mount, though all were within three thousand dollars total. Our offer was accepted because the seller was motivated. The other two would have required the seller assuming part of the loan.

Odds are in this climate the seller's agent was bluffing. Calling a bluff always runs the risk that it isn't a bluff. We followed our agent's instincts, he had a good reputation.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Unless you are dead-set on this house, I wouldn't bother with raising your price unless the seller comes back with a counteroffer. There's too many homes available to spend more than you have to. As a matter of fact, you could go around outrageously lowballing everybody, and probably get a sucker seller to bite.

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Maybe, but I really do like the house, and it was significantly better than the other 20 houses or so that I went and looked at.

Also, the asking price is actually a pretty good price for the house. The seller's agent may be bluffing. But its a good bluff because its worth the extra $4.5k for me, and he might very well be telling the truth about the other buyer.

I went ahead and signed the new contract. It was supposed to be presented a couple hours ago. Haven't heard anything and I am a bit antsy. I just hope I find out tonight. I don't think I will be able to sleep if I don't find out one way or the other.

Ring you freaking piece of crap phone, RING!

So I talked to my realtor and he said that the sellers wanted to sleep on it and meet this afternoon with a decision. He said it sounded like my offer wasn't in 1st place.

Reading between the lines, they countered the other offer and are giving them until today to respond. Unless the other buyer is stubborn, I think I'm out of it. Crud. Back to the drawing board. I didn't like any of the other houses near as much as this one.

You may still be in the running, for a price. Wanting to sleep on it is a tactic to get a bidder to up the price. Who blinks first?

You've offered the asking price. What is there to sleep on? Is the other guy's offer higher but his financing shaky?

They're playing games because they know you want it. If there is another bidder, and that hasn't been firmly established, they're playing games with him/her too.

If your bid is good and solid and doesn't rely on weird financing, hold the course. You upped it to the asking price. Someone truly wants to bid more you have to consider how much more than the asking price you are willing to go. Is the other bidder, if they exist, willing to go higher yet?

How motivated is the seller? Starting to walk away may get you the house if they are truly playing games.

You realtor is supposed to be representing you, but the truth is they work on commission and sometimes they will play games to get the seller to pay just a little bit more to up the commission. They are in real trouble if anyone can prove that is what they are doing.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

This might be the issue. My mom went through a period where she was on chemo treatments which then came down with shingles (likely a side effect of the chemo). The shingles was on her hands (mainly on her right hand) and it lasted several months. During that time she could not work at all, and my dad wasn't making any money in realestate, so I was fully supporting them and it tapped me out. Things are much better now, and I just supplement their income a bit. So I've been able to save up $12k in the last 7 months. Unfortunately that means I need to go the FHA route, rather than conventional, and I'd need to have the seller pay 3% of closing costs (which is fairly common). Sometimes sellers don't like FHA as they require an FHA appraisal. The other buyer also may be agreeing to pay closing costs. As far as the lender is concerned I more than qualify for the loan itself. I'm pre-approved and there are no issues there.

That has me thinking that no, the seller doesn't need time to sleep on it, he countered the other offer, as it likely wasn't full price but wasn't an FHA loan. So he's using my full price offer as a bargaining chip to get the other buyer to raise his offer. I think my only shot is if the other buyer is stubborn and doesn't raise the offer and so the seller goes with mine. Honestly I don't think that is likely and I'm pretty sure I'm screwed.

Well, its official. Didn't get the house. Back to the search.

Sorry to hear that, Aegnor. That must be very disappointing.
Hopefully this means there is an even better house at an even better price waiting for you somewhere else.
Good luck!

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

You had a contract and the seller backed out for a better offer?

No, I submitted a contract. They never signed it. The seller was presented with both at the same time.

The other bidder still needs to close the deal. It is a long shot but tell your realtor to keep an ear open and if it doesn't close you may still be interested. Meanwhile, what else has come on to the market?

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

My realtor has sent me some more stuff. Nothing that is really interesting me. Honestly I would have gone up another 5-10k on this house.

In this market, it's not worth getting into a bidding war. You're better off without the house. It wasn't meant for you. I know it's depressing right now. But I'll bet a fair amount you'll find something that's even better and you won't realize it until you see it.

Off to look at another house.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

So I found two that i like. One is a bit two big, over 2200 sqft. Way more space than I need. It has 4 bedrooms and an office. That is a bit much, but it would help with resale value I guess. Really nice pool. It has a note on there "Court approval required", which makes me think it is a divorce issue, but I'll have to get my realtor to find out.

The other one is three bedrooms and an office. Its on a pretty small lot. It has commercial property behind it, which looks like they are in the process of building some shops and such. The houses across the street are up against a golf course, So it is just a strip of houses, where the other is more a neighborhood. But it is a pretty nice house. And it is in a somewhat more convenient location.

They are both fairly nice houses, which I guess puts me in a pretty good bargining position. They don't want to meet my price, than I can buy the other one.

Cool. Glad you are finding houses that you like.
A piece of unsolicited advice if I may....go for the bigger house, or the other one only if you are confident of its resale... if you ever intend to have a family and even if you don't.
My husband bought himself a nice little tiny 900sq ft bachelor pad that he couldn't resell and now it contains his two kids, his new wife and stepson, and baby on the way, plus 3 dogs.
You never know what the future holds.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

One of those dogs is incredibly inappropriately affectionate. Pet Chui fo me.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Money says bankruptcy.

Ah could be I guess.

Bah, the larger house I was looking at sold this morning. This is getting annoying.

right there with you.