We put our house up for sale at the beginning of April for $299,900. It's 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 3-car, all brick on a corner lot. We are listed with a discount broker (on realtor.com and forsalebyowner.com and the house has its own website which I built) so we have done all the marketing ourselves. We are done with the OH winters and it's time to move back to FL. I am being laid off from my job (which is what I want) on July 7th. We will enter semi-retirment mode until I find another job in FL. We planned to live in the house until it sold no matter how long it took. We would not buy or lease anything in FL until we sold the house to keep our expenses low.
We refinanced the house 2 weeks ago (3/1, 4.25%) to a lower the loan balance to drop the payment about $200 per month. We had a 5/1 which was going to reset in December and I did not want to take a chance on a big jump in payment. The refi cost $1200 which was a 6 month payback period. When we refinanced the house two weeks ago, the appraisal came in at $270,000. We had commissioned a private appraisal back in February that came in at $268,000. I couldn't believe MY house was now only worth only $268,000 (paid $298,000 in December 2004 and then put in $15,000 of appliances and floors) but the refi appraisal confirmed the lowered market value.
Under the guidance of an interior designer, we painted and decorated all winter. The house looks fabulous and is professionally staged for sale.
It is a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood in a great location (relatively speaking) but we are rural so the area does not get tons of turnover and our house is at the top of of home values in the area. We have had about 30 people look at the house but we didn't really get the "I'm ready to buy" vibe from anyone until the couple this weekend. They have recently sold their home (now renting about 25 miles away) and are are looking to buy their "forever" home.
About the buyers...they are about 30 years old (both work) and they have a daughter about 2 years old. The wife grew up in the town 8 miles from our house and wants to move back to the area where the parents are still living. The wife wants to live in a sub-division and ours is a very nice one. As is typical around here, the whole family came to see the house on Sunday. Mom, dad, husband, wife, sister, BIL (the realtor), kids, and kid cousins. It was obvious they loved the house. The husband is a physics teacher who is not real handy so it is significant the house needs nothing done to it. Another plus for them is our back neighbors are the same age as the buyer couple and the neighbors have two daughters, one younger and one older than the buyers' daughter.
Now for the house's negatives. We have a large patio out back but a very shallow back yard. We have a corner lot so there is plenty of yard overall but very little in the back. This also means our back neighbors are pretty close. Second, we do not have a basement and people around here want basements. We have 400 sq feet undeveloped on the second level and a 3-car garage so there is plenty of room but basements are a big deal around here.
The offer is for $232,000, all cash, immediate closing possible. We had done some local research on the family and since we learned daddy is loaded, we expected the all-cash offer. I was a little surprised by how low the offer was but at least it's an offer! The BIL is representing them so 3% will be paid to him as the buyer's agent. Obviously, he will be giving it back to his FIL or to his SIL/BIL (the buyers).
Where do I go from here? We are motivated sellers and our mortage is well-below the $232,000 so being upside down is not an issue. We have until 5 pm on Friday to counter. I believe in the saying "the first offer is the best offer" so I'm thinking we want to make this work. I'm thinking of countering at $265,000 and seeing what they say. I discouraged my husband from selling our snow shovel in the neighbor's garage sale last weekend but maybe we will be in FL by winter!
Advice?
We refinanced the house 2 weeks ago (3/1, 4.25%) to a lower the loan balance to drop the payment about $200 per month. We had a 5/1 which was going to reset in December and I did not want to take a chance on a big jump in payment. The refi cost $1200 which was a 6 month payback period. When we refinanced the house two weeks ago, the appraisal came in at $270,000. We had commissioned a private appraisal back in February that came in at $268,000. I couldn't believe MY house was now only worth only $268,000 (paid $298,000 in December 2004 and then put in $15,000 of appliances and floors) but the refi appraisal confirmed the lowered market value.
Under the guidance of an interior designer, we painted and decorated all winter. The house looks fabulous and is professionally staged for sale.
It is a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood in a great location (relatively speaking) but we are rural so the area does not get tons of turnover and our house is at the top of of home values in the area. We have had about 30 people look at the house but we didn't really get the "I'm ready to buy" vibe from anyone until the couple this weekend. They have recently sold their home (now renting about 25 miles away) and are are looking to buy their "forever" home.
About the buyers...they are about 30 years old (both work) and they have a daughter about 2 years old. The wife grew up in the town 8 miles from our house and wants to move back to the area where the parents are still living. The wife wants to live in a sub-division and ours is a very nice one. As is typical around here, the whole family came to see the house on Sunday. Mom, dad, husband, wife, sister, BIL (the realtor), kids, and kid cousins. It was obvious they loved the house. The husband is a physics teacher who is not real handy so it is significant the house needs nothing done to it. Another plus for them is our back neighbors are the same age as the buyer couple and the neighbors have two daughters, one younger and one older than the buyers' daughter.
Now for the house's negatives. We have a large patio out back but a very shallow back yard. We have a corner lot so there is plenty of yard overall but very little in the back. This also means our back neighbors are pretty close. Second, we do not have a basement and people around here want basements. We have 400 sq feet undeveloped on the second level and a 3-car garage so there is plenty of room but basements are a big deal around here.
The offer is for $232,000, all cash, immediate closing possible. We had done some local research on the family and since we learned daddy is loaded, we expected the all-cash offer. I was a little surprised by how low the offer was but at least it's an offer! The BIL is representing them so 3% will be paid to him as the buyer's agent. Obviously, he will be giving it back to his FIL or to his SIL/BIL (the buyers).
Where do I go from here? We are motivated sellers and our mortage is well-below the $232,000 so being upside down is not an issue. We have until 5 pm on Friday to counter. I believe in the saying "the first offer is the best offer" so I'm thinking we want to make this work. I'm thinking of countering at $265,000 and seeing what they say. I discouraged my husband from selling our snow shovel in the neighbor's garage sale last weekend but maybe we will be in FL by winter!
Advice?
Good luck to you and I hope you can sell for a satisfactory price!
I would have said idiotic, moronic, dim-witted, dumb, stupid, asinine, ill-conceived, poorly thought-up, daft, senseless, ludicrous, half-baked, or completely irresponsible. 
