If your max budget is 130k...

[kwynn]

You would look at homes listed for up to ___________k?

There's a very nice house on the market. Great neighborhood. It's an investor/flip. It's vacant. Been on the market for 200 days.

You know for a fact the investor paid very, very little for the home.

I will wait until I see the responses before I post how much out of my range it is.

[mswax]

$150k

[Deleted]

I don't think the list price matters that much except to show you how reasonable the seller is. If it's 200k, i would assume the seller's not going to come down to 130k, but that wouldn't stop me from making an offer if 130K reflects FMV.

FWIW, we looked at houses WAY outside our range, in part because we didn't know what our range was - not necessarily a good move, but it was educational.

[tripleshot]

$145 assuming the norm in your area is being able to get 10% off. In this specific situation since its been on the market so long, maybe $150. I wonder if there's something wrong with it or there are inspection issues.

[mariafromnj]

probably no more than $140K to $145K. I don't want to fall for something i can't have and I don't want to push myself into a situation where I am pushing my max budget.

[mariafromnj]

Feb 13, 2013 11:26:11 GMT -5 BirdGirl said:

I don't think the list price matters that much except to show you how reasonable the seller is. If it's 200k, i would assume the seller's not going to come down to 130k, but that wouldn't stop me from making an offer if 130K reflects FMV.

FWIW, we looked at houses WAY outside our range, in part because we didn't know what our range was - not necessarily a good move, but it was educational.

 We did this when shoppin for our 1st house and it hurt us. It made us see all these things we wanted and then couldn't find them in our price range. It made us feel like we were settling. We never looked above our range when we did our second house. We figure then you are buying the best you can afford and not dwelling on the ones that you can't have.

[arch01]

all depends on the market. in the neighborhood we bought in, things were going for 100% of list, so we never looked above what we were willing to spend.

[aspentosh]

Probably $150k ish. Though birdgirl is right and it's all about FMV.

[sillygoosegirl]

I'd look at houses up to $160 or $170K, maybe a bit more if you are willing to try a short sale. Our house was listed at $345K when we first toured it. We bought it for $282K. The asking price dropped before we put in our offer, but since we'd already seen it, we were ready to move on it quickly when it finally came within reach of our price range.

There were plenty of houses in our area whose prices dropped further than that before selling quickly. Most of them were under contract before we could tour them if we didn't try to see them before they were within our price range.

[raangoli]

Feb 13, 2013 11:32:49 GMT -5 arch01 said:

all depends on the market. in the neighborhood we bought in, things were going for 100% of list, so we never looked above what we were willing to spend.

I would agree with this. Often times the listings go for 100% or even over if there are multiple offers.

[lime]

I definitely agree with the market value comments, but as a rough estimate, I'll throw out 140-145 as a max number.

[lishie]

150, maybe 160 if I was really ready to make a lowball offer.

[jenjen]

$150k normally but if its a flip and sitting there... Maybe up to $175.

Our current house (estate sale) listed at $189,900. I think we offered somewhere in the low $160s (with $6k for flooring and $3k for closing) or something like that and they accepted. We ended up not being allowed a flooring allowance so we reduced the sales price and increased their portion of our closing costs.

[jerseyjaybird]

140-150k

[aurora]

Depends on how it's listed compared to comps, but probably around $150k.

[imojoebunny]

Depends on the market. Things often go for over asking here, if they are good.

[HoneySpider]

I wouldn't go too much higher, maybe $140k. But like others have said, depends on the market...here you're not going to get houses for a big chunk less than what they are listed for.

[cjeanette]

I didn't look any anything over my max budget.

[kwynn]

Feb 13, 2013 13:00:16 GMT -5 @cse1960 said:

Are you factoring in agent commission, points, closing costs etc into the 130 or are those not included?

No points because it's a cash purchase, closing costs--I'm not sure what these would run since it's a cash purchase and I hear that can be a little lower

I would always try to get sellers to pay closing because I'm cheap.

I'm okay with none of the extras being factored into the 130k. That would be the home price.

[sm12]

Has the price been dropped at all in those 200 days? If not, I'd assume the seller is holding firm and not willing to move much (if at all). In which case, the asking price would have to be pretty close to my budget.

That aside, I'd probably look at up to $150k.

[mrshabious]

In the 200 DOM, has the asking price dropped? If not, you could put in an offer, but it seems as though the seller is holding firm. Do you have an idea of how much $ they invested in the fliP?

Is $130k your total budget (including closing)? If closing is separate, i would go up to $150k, hoping they would at least give 3% towards closing (that is standard for my area).

[mrshabious]

Feb 13, 2013 13:16:11 GMT -5 kwynn said:

Feb 13, 2013 13:00:16 GMT -5 @cse1960 said:

Are you factoring in agent commission, points, closing costs etc into the 130 or are those not included?

No points because it's a cash purchase, closing costs--I'm not sure what these would run since it's a cash purchase and I hear that can be a little lower

I would always try to get sellers to pay closing because I'm cheap.

I'm okay with none of the extras being factored into the 130k. That would be the home price.

If you were submitting a contract stating the buy was cash, then I think that gives you more wiggle room.  It is almost a guaranteed sale.  I would go up to $150-155K.  Won't you still have some closing costs though?

[kwynn]

Feb 13, 2013 13:45:30 GMT -5 mrshabious said:

In the 200 DOM, has the asking price dropped? If not, you could put in an offer, but it seems as though the seller is holding firm. Do you have an idea of how much $ they invested in the fliP?

Is $130k your total budget (including closing)? If closing is separate, i would go up to $150k, hoping they would at least give 3% towards closing (that is standard for my area).

Two price reductions, started at 170k---on market in August, dropped 5000 in September, another 5000 in October.

They bought the house for 22k.

It's on the market for 160k.

I'd estimate that most of the renovations were not cosmetic and were actually electrical and plumbing, and then some cosmetic stuff.

It's investors.

Excellent school district. Busy road. No garage (those are the things probably holding it back).

Oh man, if I had to ballpark the renovations (and I'm really, really bad at this), I'd say maybe 50k? 60k?

It is my preferred style of home and something I randomly stumbled across.

[ghost]

If you have seen it, and love it with the few concessions that you stated..low ball it. The worst they could say is "no"..don't get your heart set on it. Proceed caustiously optimistic.
When we were buying our lake house, we low balled by over $40k (similar situation). The offer was countered at 1k above our low ball..we took it and ran!
Keep us posted. Would love to see pics

[msmerymac]

$145k. Don't offer $130k off the bat. You'll have to do low $120s and for $145ish, that's more reasonable than offering, say, $122 for something listed at $160k, you know?

If something has been on the market a long time and is between $145k and $150k, I might offer, but if they haven't moved the price down in several months, it may be a sign that they can't/won't sell for below asking, too.

[msmerymac]

What are the renovations they did? Bathroom? Kitchen? Flooring? You said probably electric and plumbing, so is it an older home? Maybe we can help you with estimating that. Do you know if the owners are professional flippers/investors, or was this just a one-off project? (That can affect their business-saavy and the deals they can get with contractors on materials and labor, as well as their knowledge of what to upgrade for their money and what not to.)

[smiley]

I really depends on your market. We are still in a really bad market here and I would probably look at houses up to 150k in the hopes that they'll come down ~20%. If I am offering 20% below price though I would not expect closing costs etc.

[kwynn]

Feb 13, 2013 17:14:13 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

What are the renovations they did? Bathroom? Kitchen? Flooring? You said probably electric and plumbing, so is it an older home? Maybe we can help you with estimating that. Do you know if the owners are professional flippers/investors, or was this just a one-off project? (That can affect their business-saavy and the deals they can get with contractors on materials and labor, as well as their knowledge of what to upgrade for their money and what not to.)

Here's some info from the listing:

Old world charm meets modern upgrades! This renovated home offers nearly
everything NEW, NEW, NEW from the bottom to the top. Electrical and
plumbing upgraded, BRAND NEW HVAC System, NEW roof, restored fireplaces
and gorgeous origional woodwork throughout, NEW Stainless Steel
appliances added to the brand NEW modern kitchen w/ granite countertops
and maple cabinets, NEW Baths, 2nd level laundry, NEW front door &
porch, NEW Side/Rear wrap-around porch, within walking distance to the
T, and much more! WOW!

Professional investors---live 3000 miles from the home.

OLD home, built in 1900 originally.

[msmerymac]

Hmm. It still depends on what they did and the materials, I suppose. If there's more than one bathroom, plus a kitchen, plus the fireplace and other upgraded interior details, plus the porch, not even touching plumbing and HVAC, you could be looking at $75k+ in renos. BUT like I said, it depends on the materials used, the time they spent doing it (more time = more money for them in insurance and possibly labor), plus if they know people in the area who can give them deals.

PLUS, that's their problem. The worst that can happen is that they say no or counter close to asking price.

[lemon]

I would ask your realtor what the fair market value is based on comps and go from there. It doesn't really matter what they paid for it. But I would be tempted to lowball just based on the fact that it's been sitting on the market so long. And I doubt investors get offended by lowballs as much as owner occupieds do.