Usually I have heard of folks using offer letters to put them over the edge in a multiple offer situation. What about when there are no offers and the buyer is trying to low-ball?


The property has been on-market for 100+ days. The sellers have only been in the property for a year, and they are trying to get +$80k for it. (And no major improvements added.) Buyer is wanting to offer the previous sale price, and appeal to the sellers because it's a historic home and would be well-preserved.

Not so fast is what I would say. Only have I used offer letters when my clients are in a multiple offer situation. And, definitely not in a lowball situation. Sounds like these buyers are trying to justify not having bought a year ago and are trying to punish the sellers for doing so. I don't think so.

If they want to lowball, fine, but not with a letter attached as well.

Just curious what is your relation to the transaction? Are you a neighbor, the realtor or kin to one of the buyers/sellers?

Friend of the buyer. They are moving from out of state, but kinda fell in love with the older home (turn of the century). I'm very cautious of older homes, but I've seen this one and it's pretty damn comfortable. My biggest concern is that it's peir beam but they added a slab under the main house, but their is still a small addition that is still peir and beam with a crawl space. We aren't anywhere near geologic issues, but I'm just not a fan of hybrid foundations, especially with 100yo homes. If you are going to lay concrete for 80% of the footprint, why not go all the way?

It's just 50-60k over their price range.

Do they have a realtor? Have they run comps? I know comparables are harder with older homes but they should be able see some. Offering what they paid may seem fair but it's a loss for the seller after closing costs to buy and then sell. No one likes a forced haircut

SteveBott said:

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Do they have a realtor? Have they run comps? I know comparables are harder with older homes but they should be able see some. Offering what they paid may seem fair but it's a loss for the seller after closing costs to buy and then sell. No one likes a forced haircut

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They do have a realtor, I think the comps are -$30k vs ask price. (That being said, I dont think any of the comps which are older homes are in this good of condition, so it probably is priced right).

I think the rationale is the sellers will counter higher, and they will come up $15-20k from the 2022 purchase price. But if the sellers are thinking they can get "+$80k" in a slow market, with a 6bed/4bath, the buyer pool is just so shallow right now. RE transactions are down everywhere including this market; if they are truly trying to sell, they will likely have that haircut, as you say.

Im looking it up on my propstream and its estimating $55k in equity.

O my, I just learned its a VA loan, so 0% down, yes? Hmmm....

Since we are a nondisclosure state, is it safe to assume the visible VA loan amount is the full purchase price?

Seller probably feels they broke even at 25-30k over their previous purchase price. I would expect them to get hard on price about there. Yes assume VA at 100%. But repeat VA users are much better off putting 5% down to cut BA fees. 5% down is the sweet spot on those loans. Either way a high loan to value.

No way to know which party has the most pressure to get a deal done but I agree there are limited buyers for that house. I'd never own a 100 year old house. I'm not a great handyman and you become a full time one with a house like that. You have to want that life

Our home is 133 years old, probably up to 20 years older than that depending on the records from generations ago. Personally, I would just make the offer and see what happens. Just make sure they have representation and KNOW what they are getting into. If you want an example of what it's like owning an old pier and beam house of this age…my piers are hand sawn cypress stumps jammed under the beams which are sistered together in places and shimmed with anything from shoe leather to door shims. When my doors start sticking, it's time for me to shimmy under the offending portions of the house and give the jacks a twist or two.

We like it but we're into old stuff.

A meter would carry some weight for me but at the end of the day, I have a price point and I need to get close to it.

Jason_InfinityRoofer said:

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Our home is 133 years old, probably up to 20 years older than that depending on the records from generations ago. Personally, I would just make the offer and see what happens. Just make sure they have representation and KNOW what they are getting into. If you want an example of what it's like owning an old pier and beam house of this age…my piers are hand sawn cypress stumps jammed under the beams which are sistered together in places and shimmed with anything from shoe leather to door shims. When my doors start sticking, it's time for me to shimmy under the offending portions of the house and give the jacks a twist or two.

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This response is--on the level