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Hello from a house that's had an offer!
Our real estate agent called last night at 10:30, just as we were drifting off to slumberland, to let us know that the couple who visited the house twice and spent two hours here each time, then had another hour here yesterday with relatives during the open house, made us an offer! It's 'way too low, below the appraised value, but there's wiggle room on both sides, we hope. (And besides, we may be getting two more offers this week, if signals left with the agents yesterday are any indication.)
The agent did her best to keep our expectations down as we led up to the big event yesterday. "Open houses don't sell houses," she said to us more than once. She succeeded in keeping our hopes on solid ground, so any good news becomes a bonus, and that's how we're treating this turn of events. These people can even work with us on our timing. They're willing to wait for settlement until June 19, a week after Steve's job ends on June 12. That is our ideal scenario, giving us time to say s proper farewell with a huge party here and find a house to rent in North Carolina, all without having to rent short-term in Arlington until June 12.
Being awakened just at that pivotal moment does nothing for a good night's sleep, of course. My mind started racing with all the fun plans that may soon come to fruition and I'm less than 100% today. But it's a happy daze. The agent will come here this evening, after Steve gets back from work, with the official offer, and then we'll respond. More may happen during the day--if anything does, I'll let you know!
We are partners who transitioned to a new place, from city to country and into the house of our dreams. But settled or not, life never stands still. Every day is still a day of transition.
Welcome
After a long hiatus, I'm back with every good intention of sharing a few observations about this new life in the country. I hope it will be daily. I would dearly love to sweeten the pot with some music, but the copyright police have made sharing tunes on Blogger dangerous to the health of blogs, so there will most likely be silence on that score. I live for comments, so feel free....
About Me
- Ralph
- Hertford, North Carolina, United States
- Born on the boomer cusp, November, 1945. Retired early because I could. Love days gone and those to come.
12 comments:
Low offers are a sign of the times which is why sellers start higher than reflects their serious bottom line. But "wiggle room" is appropriate, just how much? You'll soon find out. I would be concerned with how much down and strength of income. Also here we have a rash of buyers who think because you're not in foreclosure you should compete with those who are and that's a phenomenon that comes with banks dragging down prices by taking less when they really are getting bailout money to offset what they lost. You, joe taxpayer who foots this greed, cannot make up the difference by calling Uncle Sam when a low ball hits your property. So give your Realtor the benefit of the doubt here even if they recommend not taking the offer. I don't even think licensed appraisers know what values are out there anymore. It's a guess. Incredible time to sell a house, ain't it? Good luck today.
Hey Ralph - good to hear you have some movement. I've heard the same about open houses - that they do more to attract the curious than the serious buyers. Then there's the question of "value" - a nebulous term shaped at once by the surrounding market, the enthusiasm of the seller, and the skepticism of the buyer. All meet in the middle somehow and life goes on.
I hope it reaches a good conclusion - you to move on with your lives and the new inhabitants to start a new one of their own.
- J.
Z&M, this is a middle-aged couple--40s. They're offering $10K earnest money and don't even have to move--they just want to downsize. That's what took them so long to get off the dime. I think their agent advised the offer based on the county assessment, which is much lower than what the independent CMA came in at just prior to listing. We're in the right neighborhood, price-wise. If these people drop out it'll just mean they don't want the house that much.
Thanks, Jeff. See comment above to Zooey's dad. We shall see. It's just nice to get the attention!
Exciting news, and hopefully with caffeine and adrenaline today you can keep going.
They may just want the house but trying to take advantage off the media hype about now being a good time to get a 'good deal.'
All the best best best to you and Steve! E.
Things in motion are a good sign and regardless of outcome, there is the valuable learning curve.
Sending positive thoughts to you & Steve and to the house.
This is all sounding very positive. Crossing fingers here!
This is great news! Things are moving! I cross all my fingers for both of you.
Thanks, everyone, for your good wishes. None of the other nibbles from the open house materialized--I was not surprised at that. We made our counter-offer about an hour ago. It's clear we'll get less than we were hoping for, but not that much less--it'll just have to be enough. We may have to shave a few inches off the house in NC. We should know something more tomorrow (Tuesday).
Looking forward to knowing the outcome of this cliffhanger. My daughter is househunting in Seattle and prices are HIGH...however when we look at the tax records, the HIGH prices are really not so high;sometimes even lower than previous purchase prices. Interesting times!
good luck Ralph and Steve
keeping my fingers crossed
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