Update on our home selling project.
Received a call back on 6/7, one day later than was promised. Buyer BIL realtor left a message apologizing for late call, said buyers did not have a counter-offer and reminded me they could close in a day. Pls call.
I returned BIL's call and said I assumed his message meant buyers are still on $232,000. The answer was "yes." BIL realtor (being very pleasant) says buyer's are in no rush. I reply we aren't in a rush either as we have to pay to live somewhere and this is a nice home to be "stuck" in for the time being. BIL says the buyers are still interested in the home but it's not exactly what they are looking for so they are content to wait. I'm assuming they would rather have a basement below rather than a basement up above. We'll keep each other in mind but we both understand there is no possibility of a deal at this time. The call ends on pleasant terms.
I discovered some interesting information at a 4th of July party on July 5th. One of the folks at the party (spouse of one of my replacements) works with a guy who got a very lowball offer from my buyers. Buyer wife's mom had said buyers made an offer that was not responded to and this was the house.
This seller has their house FSBO (small sign in yard, no web presence so no pictures to view) in the next nicest subdivision (big step down) which is about 3 miles from ours and 3 miles closer to buyer wife's town and parents. The house is a brick 2-story 4/2.5/2 with a finished basement. Friend said she thought house was listed at $289,000 or $10,000 above ours. They built the house so the only cost in the county records is the price of the land.
I drove by the house and our house is much nicer construction. The external appearance of our house makes our house look expensive due to size and quality of the windows, extra brick details, 2-story porch/portico, mature landscaping, 3 separate garages and the quality of surrounding houses. Also, although our lots are about the same square footage our lot feels much bigger. We are a corner lot and they are in a small cul-de-sac with a small front yard, houses on both sides, and a home relatively close across the cul-de-sac. We have 2 vacant lots with trees in front of us (2 deep) which adds to the feeling of openness. They have about the same square footage on first and second floor as our first floor but our 400 sq. ft. basement up above is competing with an 1100 square foot finished basement. Our home looks custom built and theirs looks like a nice brick house with some funky Hansel and Gretal trim up on the peak of the roof.
These sellers are going to be more motivated than us because they are living in the new home they built and are making 2 payments. Friend said sellers were planning to FSBO for about 6 months and then turn it over to a realtor...and realtor fees!
Got to love living in a small town surrounded by small towns! It's amazing to get all this information without having a realtor. I don't know how anyone can cheat on their spouse around here and not get caught.
There's one more development with another potential buyer but I'll save that for another message as this one is getting very long.