Keep your fingers crossed!

[ringbling17]

Ame,


I truly wish you good luck and hope you find the home of your dreams. That house you posted looks very nice. It looks like it's somewhere in Long Island.




I do have one inspiring story for you which just shows that you never know Until you ask....




Back in 1993, my mom and dad finally found a house. They had been looking for a house for about 10 years off and on, but it was nothing very serious or anything, just for fun. They owned two other houses anyway and other property, but I guess my mom just never found "the one", until that year.




My mom came across a beautiful house in a nice neighborhood in Queens NY called Jamaica Estates and at that time they were asking $595K. My dad is an engineer and inspected the house and my mom really loved it and wanted to make an offer..


My dad said, offer them $400k and my mom was so embarrassed to offer such a low amount that she called the real estate agent on the phone to make the offer, because she was embarrassed to face him. Of course, he laughed it off and said that they had to offer something more.


So, my mom said, Okay $420K. The real estate agent said, well, I have let the sellers know what you offered because it's my job, but they won't accept it. Do you know that another offer came for $550K for the house.


My mom said that that was what my dad said to offer, even though she never told my dad she went $20K more than what he told her to offer.


Then mother said to the agent that she wanted to see the house again and he went ahead and made an appointment for her.


When my mom got to the house, she told me she knew this was the one.


She went through the house again, and then lastly she went for a walk in the backyard with the owner. The owner was already an old man, in his 70's and he walked with a cane.


As they were walking, my mom said he almost fell and my mom was the one who helped him get up.


As he regained his composure, he looked up at my mom and said, I heard you made an offer for $420. Do you know I have a much higher offer? My mom said, yes, I love your house, but that's all I can afford.


The owner then said, you want the house for $420, you got it! On Monday, I am calling up my son and will tell him to sell it to you for that price.


So, to make a long story short, she wound up getting this house for $175K less than the asking price.


I always tell my mom she got so lucky with this house. I asked my mom once what she would have paid for it if the owner didn't accept her offer and she said she would have paid whatever she had to to get it, even if it was more than the asking price.

 

[KBerly]

kayla17, thanks for sharing that wonderful story

 

[ame]

I think my frustration with his ridiculously too low offers is that he asks everyone else and then just ignores anything they say. If we don't get this one he knows he is in DEEEEEP kimshee. He knows I was just furious with him when the other girl said to take a hike. I said we should offer 142 last time and he said no. So whatever. I don't barter. I despise negotiating.

 

[sevens one]

Let me just say I love reading all these stories. It is amazing how things turn out in life.
Cflutist,Mara,Momoftwo, Kayla17 Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[ame]

We got countered at 142,500 and we countered back (much to my frustration) 141,500. He figures that if we have to pay another month's rent because we have to close mid november, they should eat that 1000 since we have to pay it anyway...if they decline it then we will just reoffer at 142,500/

 

[cflutist]

Food for thought:

My step dad became a real estate broker after he retired from the US Army. You wouldn't believe how many deals fell apart over $500, or a refrigerator that the buyers wanted the sellers to leave behind. Honest, these were stories he used to tell me. When you think of it logically, $500 over 30 years is not much.

Ame is so fortunate that she is not shopping for a house in Northern California where you would need to add an extra zero to the prices she posted. Just think of all the extra diamonds she can buy

 

[ame]

That's what I fear....that it will come to that. We will pay the 142,500 if it comes to it. We just hope they see that on our end we are seeing that we may not even get this house even at that price if their other house falls through. They have to understand that we can't go look elsewhere if we can't get this one till after Oct 30th. Thats a lot of limbo time there.

But we'll see. Ill know tonight.

I wish we could buy more diamonds. haha

 

[hoorray]

$1000 is pretty much rounding error when you are buying a house and putting most of it into a 30 year mortgage. It sounds as if the issue is more about the uncertainty and the risk you are taking than the actual price. If they don't accept, maybe you can get creative and counter with something that compensates you for that risk (adding your lst month's rent into their side of the closing costs, rebating something if things slip, etc...)

good luck!