Home buying offer advice

H

horn wiz

25+ Posts
hello all - i'm moving to lubbock (yes, i know), and am ready to make an offer on a house that is new construction in a new developing neighborhood.

the asking price is $235,000. My realtor, who I trust, says to offer not much under that. Price per sq. ft is $96.55 and the realtor says Lubbock bucks the national trend of being a buyers market.

i have been told by some people in real estate (not my realtor) to offer $205,000 and expect somewhere around $220,000.

similar houses in the area range from $88 per sq. ft to $101.

the house has been on the market 14 days.

any thoughts are appreciated.

thanks!
 
Im no expert, but I would offer what I felt comfortable with. Go with the lower price and see what happens. Im sure that is not the only house for sale in Lubbock anyway.
 
You may trust the realtor, but the more you pay - the higher their commission. The worst thing that can happen is the seller can counter offer with a higher price. I'd offer what you feel comfortable with and go from there. Since it is new construction and not a home owner who loves their "home", you have less issues with the seller being offended by your offer.
 
why are you using a realtor to purchase a new construction? i ask because there is no need to use one. then the 3% the new home builder is using to pay your realtor you can use for a price reduction or for your closing costs.
 
As previously stated, the builder won't be offended by a lower offer, so I wouldn't worry about that.

One thing to keep in mind is that builders don't generally knock a huge amount off of their asking prices. Most of them are much more willing to offer free upgrades or contribute to closing costs.

I'm no expert in the Lubbock market, but that's how it generally works with new construction.
 
Everything is for sale and negotiable, or not. If not, walk away and go next door. Sorry to hear you're moving to the Hub. How much are they getting for trees in Lubbock these days, and I don't mean tumbleweed?
 
sounds like your realtor is fishing for a higher commission. i'd lose the realtor and offer a lower amount - in the 210K range, and mention to the builder that they do not have to pay any realtor commission - unless they have the home listed with their own realtor in which case it doesn't matter if you have one or not.

also, i personally feel its best to include any seller paid closing costs in the initial offer and as part of negotiations from the beginning. i know some people would rather negotiate the flat price and then try to raise that price by the amount of seller concessions that they want, but that can lead to appraised value trouble and makes things more difficult in the long run.
 
closing costs are paid by the buyer unless stated otherwise in the contract. some people prefer to negotiate price only with the assumption that the buyer is paying all closing costs, then when they get a figure agreed upon, adjust that price upwards by the amount of closing costs they want the seller to cover.

as far as ethics go, there's nothing keeping a person with a realtor or a builder or a lending institution. if the realtor has led them to the property that they want to negotiate now, then sure the realtor deserves some commission. but if they are giving suspect advice, then maybe they deserve to be fired.

i won't claim to know about the lubbock real estate market, but i will say that if you want to make an offer, your realtor is obligated to present that offer even if they say it probably won't be accepted.
 
madscientist -

I'm confused...are you advocating that a buyer should negotiate and conclude a sale price and then go back and try to get the seller to pay closing costs on top of the sale price...?
 
The builder is not going to take off the 3% realtor commission b/c if they did they would piss off the realtors who bring them a ton of business.

That said, I don't know much but ~$100 per sqft sounds like alot for Lubbock. Then again, I know nothing about the Lubbock market and I'm not afraid to say that. :)
 
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