Home Sale Question

[ronin]

After nearly 35 yrs we decided finally that we want to move (for a variety of reasons that have been building up over the recent yrs). We contacted a real estate agent, signed a sales agreement and the listing hit the MLS and web in the afternoon two days ago. We saw all the comps and what the price range is and that properties like ours are sitting on the market for up to 6 months at those levels. We decided to test it at $20k above the highest price of the range (being optimistic and maybe less than realistic).

Yesterday, there was a lot of car traffic with obvious lookers. By afternoon we had an offer sight unseen for full price. There will be an open house Sat and Sun this weekend and it now appears that it could go for a premium to our initial asking price.

For those of you with experience, what should we be considering? I think that while I'd like to get the most out of it, we shouldn't be too greedy and wait for a bidding war that may never materialize. If we get a few more offers that are higher, do we wait and see or should we think about taking the best offer ASAP. The agent says we will look at it on Mon or Tues and see what's what which seems reasonable to us.

Once we made the decision to sell, my feeling is the sooner it sells the better. If we get a premium, that is nice too. We still have to find a place to move to and I'd like to get on with that. But we'd feel better knowing what those of you who have real experience think about it so we can add that wisdom to the mix. Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Bamaman]

That's great news. We put our old house on the retail market last weekend, and the first person looked at it Tuesday and is returning for a second look tomorrow (Friday).

The house is 12 years old, and I've repainted the bedrooms, replaced bedroom carpets and thoroughly cleaned the house. I also spent a whopping $135 retiling the master bathroom (plus my labor), and it looks great. It's in almost brand new condition and is in move in condition.

I've always found that any house that's prepared well and priced fairly will be the first to sell in any neighborhood. If you happen to get a fast offer, it's no reason to think you underpriced the house. Get over it, and get prepared for your next home.

 

[bingybear]

well, the offers you have... how long are they valid? When I have been in the market to buy I would make an offer and have a time limit on it being valid for maybe 1 day. So if your waiting for a bidding war... you may miss the offers.
if your house is on the market too long it may become stale. When I've seen bidding wars around here, it is shortly after the house is put on the market. Much less so as the house ages on the market.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[braumeister]

we sold a house in 2004 for about 10% over our asking price. The bidding could have gone on longer, but one prospective buyer just stood out to us as really loving the house and we didn't want to be greedy about it. He still lives in it and still loves it.

 

[travelover]

If you have an offer already for full price, I'd only wait until the open house to see if you under priced it, then I'd take the highest offer.

When a house is first listed, there is a frenzy of action, but it is not sustained. Buyers have been looking and are keenly aware of what is available and what properties are selling for. In my experience, these buyers have a better idea than the agents what a fair price is at that moment in that neighborhood.

My agent overpriced my house and it sat for 6 months, despite several 5% drops. I'd have been happier if it had been priced lower initially and I had sold quickly saving me the grief of months of showing.

 

[RockyMtn]

in my home selling history it seems as though the first offer is frequently the best offer!

 

[REWahoo]

If we get a few more offers that are higher, do we wait and see or should we think about taking the best offer ASAP. The agent says we will look at it on Mon or Tues and see what's what which seems reasonable to us.

If you get multiple offers, why not respond to all of them Tuesday that you have multiple offers and they each have 24 hours to make another offer before you sign a contract with the highest bidder?

 

[Ronstar]

Evaluate the offer(s) terms. Contingencies - buyer financing, buyer has to sell their home first, etc. Time frame to contract/closing, etc.

If the current offer is valid for a week or two, wait to see what the open house yields. Then make a decision based on whatever best facilitates getting into your new place

 

[socca]

A mostly contingency-free offer for a bit less than the list price may be more attractive than a full-price offer with lots of nasty contingencies. I'd be willing to offer an all-cash buyer a small discount just because they offer a higher probability of a complication-free transaction.

 

[W2R]

in my home selling history it seems as though the first offer is frequently the best offer!

+1

Personally, if it was me I'd take the money and run! Well, if you like the offer, financing, contingencies, timeframe, and so on.

When I sold my house in 2015, I got a great offer like that four days after it went on the market. I took it, and I'm so glad that I did. I didn't get any other offers but maybe that was because it was listed as "pending" at some point. Anyway, for me at least, there was considerable value in getting it sold soon. No more expenses, no more hassle, just money in the bank. $$$

However, bear in mind that I live in New Orleans and even though it was a seller's market at the time, real estate here has never been as "hot" as in some parts of the country, like San Francisco or Seattle.

 

[COcheesehead]

Like others have said, usually the first offer is the best offer. I also could be wrong, but if the first offer is for full price and no contingencies, I think you are obligated to take it. Someone else can weigh in on this.

 

[RockyMtn]

Like others have said, usually the first offer is the best offer. I also could be wrong, but if the first offer is for full price and no contingencies, I think you are obligated to take it. Someone else can weigh in on this.

Not unless you (the seller) actually "accept" the offer.

However, unless you believe you really mispriced the house, I would take a full price offer with no contingencies in a heartbeat and run to get it closed.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We have bought and sold many times and the first offer has always been the highest. Also we lost a house once by giving the buyer 3 days to decide. Now when we make an offer we only give them 24 hours to decide so look and see what time frame was stated. Also as others have noted look at the contingencies because this can make a huge difference. Good luck!

 

[Sunset]

Be aware it is possible for them to want to renegotiate the price after the home inspection "finds" a bunch of stuff wrong with the house.
You don't have to agree, and can let their offer expire at that point, or just refuse to drop the price and call what might be a bluff.

 

[Texas Proud]

I will be a slight contrarian here.... the first offer is NOT always the best offer.... there are people who want to low ball...

However, your offer is for more than you listed, so they are hoping to snag it before there is a bidding war...

I would wait for the showing this weekend... it is not like you are waiting a month... but do accept an offer early next week since you are already above list... if the person who made the offer really wants the house they will wait a few days...

I agree with the people who say the less contingencies is the best... IOW, if they are putting down a lot of hurdles for you, they will be pressing them later to try and lower the price or make you do repairs etc. that you do not want to do...

 

[harley]

Take the money and run. You'll be happy, full price, minimal hassles. If you wait and get a higher offer, how much higher will it be? $5K? $20K? How much is that in your overall net worth? If it's more than a couple of percent, then maybe it will be worth it. But if it's a veritable drop in the bucket, why take the risk? JMO, but I do like to look at the big picture.

 

[NgineER]

Open houses are only for the realtors getting new clients IMO, not for selling your house. You get the neighbors walking through, but serious clients want to see it by themselves.

Take the offer for what you were asking, if you have multiple do 24 hour best and final.

OTH, real estate agents keep their house on the market much longer than most people to get the price they want, read the freakonomics book.

 

[MRG]

It's February, a very slow month for real estate. If you have a full price with no contingencies, I'd grab it.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Not unless you (the seller) actually "accept" the offer.

However, unless you believe you really mispriced the house, I would take a full price offer with no contingencies in a heartbeat and run to get it closed.

Not true. If they accept what you are OFFERING (you are offering to sell your house for such and such a price) to the letter, and they agree to YOUR terms, you are under contract. The buyer has quite literally assented to your offer.

This is very, VERY rare but it can be binding.

Also, the OP mentioned that you listed a bit higher than comps...if that's the case, you *could* have an issue with appraisal.

Nonetheless, every market is truly different, so take all of this advice with a grain of salt.

 

[W2R]

If you happen to get a fast offer, it's no reason to think you underpriced the house.

This is so true. I made a full price cash offer on my dream house less than 24 hours after they listed it with a realtor, and before it had reached the MLS or even the realtors' version of the MLS. The sellers were freaked out and thought they had priced it too low (it was a very good price, I admit). They didn't accept my offer for two days and I was freaking out.

My realtor finally got my (reluctant) permission to reveal that my eagerness to buy the house, was due to it being next door to Frank. Then the sellers accepted my offer right away, and were very cooperative from there on out.

 

[Persn]

I will be a slight contrarian here.... the first offer is NOT always the best offer.... there are people who want to low ball...

However, your offer is for more than you listed, so they are hoping to snag it before there is a bidding war...

I would wait for the showing this weekend... it is not like you are waiting a month... but do accept an offer early next week since you are already above list... if the person who made the offer really wants the house they will wait a few days...

I agree with the people who say the less contingencies is the best... IOW, if they are putting down a lot of hurdles for you, they will be pressing them later to try and lower the price or make you do repairs etc. that you do not want to do...

All of this.

When we sold in the bay area in 2015 we got a cash offer above asking four days after listing on the MLS. I wanted to accept it, but the problem was we had told everyone we would review offers after the weekend open house, and the party making the offer wanted us to decide in 24 hours. We were pretty certain there were more offers coming, so we very politely invited the party to renew their offer after the open house. They did, and upped the offer to boot, but still got beat out by a much better offer from a family that never saw the house until, you guessed it, the open house. Once we saw the offers we asked the first offeror whether they wanted to match the best offer, more or less because we had promised them due consideration in putting them off the first time. They declined, and we immediately accepted the best offer without further negotiation.

 

[COcheesehead]

Not true. If they accept what you are OFFERING (you are offering to sell your house for such and such a price) to the letter, and they agree to YOUR terms, you are under contract. The buyer has quite literally assented to your offer.

This is very, VERY rare but it can be binding.

Also, the OP mentioned that you listed a bit higher than comps...if that's the case, you *could* have an issue with appraisal.

Nonetheless, every market is truly different, so take all of this advice with a grain of salt.

This is what I thought. If you get an offer, without edits, full price, the deal is done.

 

[Huston55]

I agree with those who recommend taking the "best" (meaning no or fewest contingencies) offer if it's anywhere close to your asking price.

I'm assuming a few things here:
1. Your home is appropriately priced (seems a good assumption based on comps)
2. You still live in the LA area; meaning $20k here or there is likely <2% of your sale price. (So, not worth lots of energy.)

Having bought/sold several houses in high priced West Coast/East Coast markets, as well as in "fly over land", if I've learned one thing about buying/selling, it's "don't chase the market"; either up or down, either as seller or buyer. It's almost always a frustrating and/or losing tactic. A virtually guaranteed smooth deal @ 98% of perfect is better than a risky, contingency laden deal @ 105% of perfect. It's somewhat analogous to the low cost, passive index investing philosophy, as compared to riskier methods, if you think about it.

 

[pb4uski]

This is what I thought. If you get an offer, without edits, full price, the deal is done.

I don't think so... IOW, the offerer could not sue you for specific performance... even if you get a full price offer you need to accept it for it to be binding and as I recall real estate is one of a few areas where you need to have a written contract in order for it to be enforceable (the buyer force specific performance on the seller).

So OTOH, if you get to the point that you have a signed, written contract and the seller decides that they don't want to sell, you can then take them to court and force them to sell you the property (aka specific performance).

For example:

In Ohio, the Statute of Frauds is found in the Ohio Revised Code Section 1335.05, which requires real estate purchase contracts to be in writing and signed by the parties.

My recollection is that this is true for most other states.

I am not a lawyer but that was my understanding having studied and passed the real estate licensing exam back in the mid 1970s.

 

[Hzefam]

I don't think so... IOW, the offerer could not sue you for specific performance... even if you get a full price offer you need to accept it for it to be binding and as I recall real estate is one of a few areas where you need to have a written contract in order for it to be enforceable (the buyer force specific performance on the seller).

So OTOH, if you get to the point that you have a signed, written contract and the seller decides that they don't want to sell, you can then take them to court and force them to sell you the property (aka specific performance).

For example:


My recollection is that this is true for most other states.

I am not a lawyer but that was my understanding having studied and passed the real estate licensing exam back in the mid 1970s.

My current listing contract with my broker specifies that I can reject any offer for any reason.