Buyers want fast closing, have huge list of flaws to leverage price way down;

[flemingdl]

In the state of shock   over our start of negotiations over our  house for sale.

Just seems like it could be a scam.  They promise a 3 week closing to grab our interest, then a brutal inspection report lists an amazing amount of flaws incl. insect damage of which lots we just can't fathom true.

Bellevue Wa., great neighborhood, great Windermere agent, 35 yr old house quite rennovated inside.  Inspection recommends all decks and tool shed and sun room be torn down.  Buyers want $15K price reduction on $520K price we agreed before inspection.  Knew there would be flaws identified, shell shocked about extent. 

Could maybe agree to 1/2 that ($7.5K), but if they walk we are stuck with defending this inspection report to future buyers - that is it stays with the house?   Powers we have to defend against this Inspection report?

Is the fast closing proposed a sign they are sneaky and wanting it cheap to flip it or something?

A factor for us it was 5 weeks on market at $530 and above with just 1 other offer so maybe its not the jewel that owners often feel their homes are and we just GET IT OVER WITH and sell to these folks.  Hmmmm

Opinions & feedback sure welcome. 
Thanks REI'ers   

The Flemings

[propertymanager]

Flemings,

You're getting caught up in a bunch of smoke that has been created by the buyer.  Don't play their game.  Don't let them control the negotiations.  YOU need to be in control.

This is very simple.  YOU should decide what the house is worth and what you want for it.  No-one on this forum can evaluate the claims on that inspection report.  YOU must decide if it is all true or a bunch of nonsense.  Are the decks unsafe?  If not, why do they need to be torn down?  Is their serious insect damage?  Can you see it?  Is the shed in terrible condition?  Only you can determine these things?

Also, YOU need to know your market.  Is your market still hot and getting hotter, or is it starting to cool?  If it is starting to cool, the longer you wait, the lower the price you may get. 

Finally, how badly do you want to sell and how important is it to you to sell quickly?

The bottom line is that YOU must decide what you will accept and then stick with it.

Mike

[Rich_in_CT]

How fast do you need to sell?  What is your motivation to sell?

[flemingdl]

Thanks much for the feedback.  We bought elsewhere, house is empty and nicely staged by Windermere.  Payments are $1400 per mo., could own it another month or two we suppose.  Market is not improving, other sellers are dropping, some are holding.  Will review with realitor tonite the actual sales stats of passed weeks.

Only 1 deck is a real issue we feel.  They are doing best to leverage down price.  We will likely respond with a $5K to $7.5K discount for them cause its true I'm a bit of a tighty type and did not feed $$ into these decks and back yard over the years.

Thanks folks, will be glad when its over.

[Roger J]

Hopefully, your agent will help you thru this decision as this is what they are being paid to do.

You need to carefully consider your financial position as well as the current market condition.  Frankly, if you can only afford to pay 1 to 2 months more of payments before it becomes a problem, then you need to seriously consider taking the offer.  Your willing to come down $8k + your $3K or so in monthly and they're wanting a $15K drop.  That's only $4K difference.

The main point to keep in mind (and your agent should tell you this) is IF you decide to counter that offer, then you can't go back.  That offer is dead and your counter is on the table.  If the buyer's don't like your counter, you can't simply say, "well, we'll take your first offer then."  Well, you can say it, but the buyer doesn't have to accept it at that point.

If you need to sell this property (and it sounds like you might), then you may want to consider just selling it and move on.

Raj

[henryinma]

Your realtor probably should have warned you about the home inspection. They always find something wrong and actually 15k on a 530k house isn't that bad. On most of my deals where I represent the buyer, we usually get anywhere from 5-15k off the asking price depending on what the inspector finds. Of course we've done things like ask for 30-40k off and then go down from there.

As for the countering advice, I'd wouldn't exactly agree with it although the spirit is correct. They basically have a home inspection contingency. At this point, assuming that the inspection contingency had a low dollar amount or none, they could withdraw their offer based on the home inspection. It's up to you to negotiate on the price that's acceptable to both parties. So feel free to counter and see what happens.

I suppose you could also get a second opinion or just not agree with the report. Why does all that need to be torn down? Not up to code? They could have a point, I've seen several houses where things like railings, type of bolts used, deck footings etc were an issue. Were permits pulled for all this work?

If they walk away and you're stuck with the report, you'll have to disclose it to the next buyer, but you could also get your own home inspection report that disputes the first one and leave it up to the next buyer.

In this market, a 15k reduction on a 530k house really doesn't sound that bad. Your market of course may be different.

[catalogguy]

This is all normal.  Your agent needs to be tough to contain the damage.  If you are in the prevalent buyer's markets, you should be glad that you have someone to negotiate with.  I like your approach of splitting it.  Again, I hope your agent is tough and goes to bat for your interests.  As someone else mentioned, you already know if those items should be removed.  If yo don't think so, then your buyer doesn't either and does not intend to do so, this is just negotiating.  Again it is normal.  Good luck!

[meadowman]

Remember, they found all this stuff wrong and have a chance to back out....but they still want the house...that means they are still negotiating the sales price. I would counter somewhere in the middle, or do a combo of offering to fix some of the true flaws along with price reduction. Fixing the true flaw will help you if the deal falls through, the next guy won't have this to leverage against you.