It sounds like these buyers also want it out of your life, but don't sell yourself short.
Tell them that comps with 15k worth of the updates your place needs are 80k. Tell them to give you their best and final offer if you don't want to deal with negotiating.
Talk to an agent. They may have a client who would want your place and you could use that in your negotiating
Unless this is state dependent, you don't actually need a realtor to sell a house. So I'd make this contingent on NOT paying his wife 3%. What exactly is she doing that is earning that 3%? She's not showing him houses, she's not listing your house, isn't that basically the whole job of a realtor? You should have a lawyer to handle things from a legal perspective, but there is no need to involve a realtor at all if you have an offer from someone you know personally and your house isn't listed on the market already.
I only know this because I sold a house more or less this way - someone offered to buy my house when it wasn't listed. We used lawyers to handle closing but no realtor were involved at all.
In my case they offered me basically what I had paid for the house, which was around 7-10k less than what comps around me were selling for. We negotiated up a little bit - I'm forgetting the details right now but I think we talked them up about half of that. The logic there being, if they walked away we'd have to get a realtor to sell the house and would end up making less overall after commissions (we wanted to sell, we just hadn't actually listed it yet). So - I think selling them the house for less than what you'd get with a realtor makes sense, but not like 50% less! You can do better. I think perhaps I'd ask for 55-60k and if they refuse tell them you're willing to negotiate. But wait for them to refuse before undercutting yourself so much.
Call and get the opinions of a few agents in your area. It's one thing to hear it from random women on a message board and another to hear it from a professional who is very familiar with your market. You can still sell without an agent, but I think in your situation, you'd benefit greatly by being represented. An agent will more than pay for him/herself with the price of the sale. And chances are really good that an agent will agree to represent you for a pretty low price if you tell them you already have a cash buyer lined up and almost ready to go. (I'd arrange a pre-listing meeting with several and tell them at the meeting about your specific situation. Tell them you're meeting with 2 other agents and will decide who to use based on your meeting and their fees, then let them tell you what they'd be willing to do it for. With a cash offer with no contingencies, it's likely just a few hours of work for them!)
I agree with PP who commented that a super low price isn't good for anyone. It lowers the value of everything in the neighborhood. It would also make it harder for them to sell at max value in a year. If they bought it for $40K, people will balk at paying over twice that (if the $80K condos were outdated, it would in theory be worth more than that).
I'd meet with an agent, figure out fair market value, decrease that by a bit, and then present the offer as a starting point. A good agent will be able to present the offer to them and word it such that they know you're willing to play a decent game of ball...but they won't show your whole hand, which I'm afraid you will do. The buyers don't need to know how desperately you need to sell this place. It's none of their business. Also, don't fool yourself into believing that these people will just walk away if they don't like your initial offer. If they think they can get it for 10K under fair market value (considering the condition and all), they'll stay in the conversation. The only way they'd likely walk immediately is if you said, "I want $80K and I'm not willing to negotiate."
I get it, though. We had a dual mortgage on a single income for 8 months. It brought me so much anxiety and was a real drain, emotionally and financially. I just wanted it SOLD...at any cost. But when we ditched our agent and went with a FSBO company, I fought the urge to sell it WAY below market value just to be DONE. We put it just below market value & had a full price offer in days. Had I listened to my gut, we would have been $15K poorer! That's a very considerable sum of money in my world!
Post by mrs.jacinthe on Oct 13, 2017 21:27:17 GMT -5
Has anything sold in your building that was fully updated? My guess is that they be looking to do more than the 80k level if they're flipping it.
ETA: I responded before I finished reading. If they're Realtors, they shouldn't be asking you to name your price. Put it back on them to make an offer. I'd say "I appreciate that you are willing to purchase sight unseen, but I'd rather not set the price myself. I'd like to see your highest and best offer."
It's a business deal for them, not a personal thing. If they want it, they'll give you a competitive offer. (Also, chances are they know or can guess what you owe, so they'll take that into account.)
“Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.” - Natalie Goldberg
How much did you buy this place for? How many years ago?
I agree your amount left on a mortgage is moot. We once had a condo, similar price range as yours that was so stressful and anxiety inducing yet ours was paid off. I still couldn’t wait to sell it, as it sat on the market for years.
We purchased for $70 and put another $15 of repairs and updates into it, then sold for $55. I was thrilled to get rid of it and though we took a large loss, since it was a rental for several years, we were able to count that loss to offset our taxes (minus the already counted depreciation).
It doesn’t sound like you’re living in this place, so if you use it as a rental and take a loss, remember about the tax implications.
How much did you buy this place for? How many years ago?
I agree your amount left on a mortgage is moot. We once had a condo, similar price range as yours that was so stressful and anxiety inducing yet ours was paid off. I still couldn’t wait to sell it, as it sat on the market for years.
We purchased for $70 and put another $15 of repairs and updates into it, then sold for $55. I was thrilled to get rid of it and though we took a large loss, since it was a rental for several years, we were able to count that loss to offset our taxes (minus the already counted depreciation).
It doesn’t sound like you’re living in this place, so if you use it as a rental and take a loss, remember about the tax implications.
I paid $58 for it 20 yrs ago and it's been vacant for a couple of years. I've never rented it out.
Thank you everyone for your wisdom. Sorry I did kind of a post and run. I was at my condo cleaning and fixing a few things up today.
I know that I'm thinking with my emotions and I'm having a very difficult time separating my emotions from what's really best for me. I just want it out of my life so badly!
Post by puppylove64 on Oct 14, 2017 18:45:40 GMT -5
Please put aside your emotions and contact a realtor on your behalf. A realtor can give you a fair estimate of what you can sell it for. At that price point, you can probably sell it very quick to lots of cash buyers. Don’t get so excited aabout these folks, they are not doing you a favor. Right now there is a huge demand for houses and not enough supply.