House buying update - not good news

[TwistedSerpent]

So the appraisal came back, it was $5,000 under their asking price. On top of that there is $1,200 worth of electrical issues needing to be fixed and a lot of peeling paint needing to be taken care of. Asking them to drop their price by $5,000 probably wont go through, chances are they would rather put the place back on market and try again. There is the option of meeting them half way but we have to somehow magicly come up with the extra money.

What makes this really frustrating is that so far in our search there has been absolutely nothing else available to us. We need to get out of the city, but due to my BF's work he can only be 30 miles away. Plus we really want a couple acres. That narrows down our options to pretty much just mobile homes, which we found out very few people here want to lend to and insure., not to mention most were pretty run down which we would never even get approved for in the first place.

 

[calicokat]

Don't be so quick to think they won't come down. If the housing market where you are is like most places, buyers are few and far between. If they are really wanting to sell their house, they may be more flexible than you expect. Plus, in all honesty, if the appraisal came in low, they they are silly to think you'd pay more than it's worth.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

I guess, when buying a house $5,000 is nothing compared to the money being talked about.

Its just that our realtor sounded pretty discouraged and worried that we've asked too much of them already and they wont be willing and would rather roll the dice and put it back up on market.

 

[Penturner]

As your Realtor if he has always been int he habit of accepting No as an answer to a question he hasn't even asked. I woudl be looking for a new Realtor.

 

[sfw2]

Is this a foreclosure?

I wouldn't buy a house for more than its appraised value, especially if there are repairs needed. And I agree with Penturner's post. Who is the realtor representing? You or the seller?

 

[kimbalaya]

Don't be afraid to offer less than their asking price! We just bought our acre with my inlaws (2 houses on it) a few months ago. They were asking $235k, we offered $200k. We stood firm, and it took them about a month of counter-offering lower and lower to finally meet us at our $200k, but they did.

 

[wegotchickens]

I'd ask them to reduce the price by 10k, and then offer a to split the difference when they choke on 10k. Then you get the 5k. What do you have to lose?

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
I agree, who is the realtor representing?

After all you ARE the buyer so the realtor HAS to work with you.

If the sellers ARE very firm on the price and will NOT budge, look for other houses until they decided to bow down at your asking price.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

Our realtor was great in the begining, lately its been harder and harder to get ahold of her and she sounded like this is a make or break thing and we're pretty stuck which has us really worried (first time buying). The original cost was $159,900, we offered $150,000 and to cover closing costs. They wanted $155,000 and they cover closing and we accepted. That so far has been the degree of our bargining. She's getting us in a near panic over this lower appraisal cost saying they're more likely to put the house back up on the market instead of lowering it for us. She told us to ignore the repair costs right now with the deal and thinks its best to try and meet them halfway with this extra $5,000. Is trying to get them to lower to the appraisal price that big of a deal when its only that much? She's acting like we're probably not going to get this property because of this.

 

[sfw2]

Keep in mind, your mortgage is based on the lesser of the sales price or the appraised value. If you go ahead with the sale at the contract price, your mortgage will be lower, and you'll be even further out of pocket.