re: Is walking away from a house because a Seller didn't come down 2% more in price petty?

If I was your realtor I’d walk away, you sound like a pain in the arse

If its a god house in a stable or up and coming, neighborhood you'll make that 2% back well before you sell.

Everyone needs to draw a line somewhere. Those who can do that and stick to it will be much happier in life.

I almost lost a deal on my house because my buyer wanted the appliances replaced because the range had some minor scratches. He wanted it replaced with the exact same model, but brand new.

The range in question has no issues, other than some very minor scratches but is a $4200 range. His realtor offered to replace the part that was scratched - a $114 part. Some people get too involved with winning or losing the negotiation.


We got past the stove issue and then his house didn't appraise. His buyer offered half the difference, but he wouldn't budge. I had already put a deposit down on a storage unit, a rental home, and paid for two estoppels. Our inspection and appraisal had passed and they didn't have any contingency on the sale of their home. I had paid for these things because they had requested a closing in 3 weeks after we accepted their offer.

We got past that because my realtor, his realtor, and I split the last 2000 bucks that he was going to walk over. fricking ridiculous.

His realtor is going to tell him to lose her number when this is over. I feel bad for my soon to be ex-neighbors.

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Three very fair comps in subdivision helped me come up with what I thought was a win/win number for both sides. I'm probably already 1% more than I should really be already.

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Then walk. Unless you don't care about value or don't think the comps are accurate

(or you are buying in one the parts of the United States where property hasn't significantly escalated lately and the number of properties built recently is very low).

If you are making a financial decision trust the financial metrics. If the financial value is less important (and you want to decide based on how much you love the house) then that's your metric.

FWIW if you are intending to get good value you should expect to make more than five offers before you get what you want. Three isn't very many.

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If interest rates drop like they expect next month, sellers will likely get more for their houses.

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A lot of realtors will tell you this but be careful. This assumption is contradicted by historical data with the exception of the 20-21 interventions. Because dropping interest rates are accompanied by rising unemployment, falling equity prices, and therefore fewer buyers.

The exception is a repeat of the covid plan where the government pumps out "free money" which results in skyrocketing inflation. That would pump up home values unless the bond market broke down and forced austerity on the federal government.

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I have offered on three different houses on past 40 days (this being the third). I would have been very content with any of the three for the right price.

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Meet them halfway…sorta.

Go 1% more on your end, gave the agents cut 1% out of theirs.

I made more than one deal that way. Seller feels like they got something, so do you, and if the agents don’t like it, they get zero for not selling it. I’d make any reasonable commission adjustments I had to in order to get to closing.

I find that today’s sellers tend to be generally more out of touch with fair market value. Many seem greedy and unrealistic given differences in the quality of their actual asset and its relative place in the market of homes. Not all sellers, but many.

This doesn’t sound like a forever home, so I would be more inclined to stick with your number if that is truly your final number as it sounds like you based it on comps. If it’s more arbitrary, in other words just a number, then I would consider increasing depending upon the quality of the home and how bad you want it.

In many places, we have turned the corner and it has become a buyer's market. I would not hesitate to pull out of a deal. The seller needs the buyer more than the other way around. There are deals to be had these days, unlike 2-2 years ago.

Just be up front with what you're doing - to your realtor and the sellers realtor.

I walked over a $5k difference. I came in really low first offer then second I came back very competitive. House had been in the market 1-1/2 years. Sellers wife wanted $5k more than my offer I passed. Their agent was furious I was a cash buyer as well. They ended up splitting the home from the acreage to eventually sell