วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 12 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2562

What's Considered a "Low Ball" Offer? (And Should You Consider Making One?)

In today's real estate market, you've probably heard a lot about "lowball" offers. But you may want to know:

What exactly is a lowball offer? Should I make a lowball offer?

Both are excellent questions.

Defining a Lowball Offer

So, what's a lowball offer? There's no one answer. In fact, it's all in the mind of the seller (and buyer, too).

Some sellers consider an offer 5% below list to be low. Generally, it's not. In many areas of the country now, houses ฝากขายทาวน์เฮ้าส์ are selling for 93%-95% of list. But I've seen sellers consider a 5% discount a lowball offer.

Is 10% a lowball offer? In today's market, I'd say no.

20%? Maybe. But, again, keep your eye on the comps (the comparable properties that have sold recently) and what you can afford. If the comps show similar houses selling for 20% less, then it's still not a lowball.

30%? Maybe. Real estate investors typically make offers at 65% or less of what comps suggest. They're not successful with most of their offers, but there are enough motivated sellers who sell at 65% or less to keep a lot of real estate investors very happy.

Bottom line : Whether an offer is a lowball is defined by the seller--what his/her expectations and hopes are.

Should YOU Make A Low/Lowball Offer?

Since a lowball offer is defined by the seller, there's no way to answer the question. We can come a bit closer by taking a look at what the property is really worth, then being sure to offer less.

Your maximum offer should be the lesser of: (1) what the house is worth, as determined by comps, or

(2) what you can comfortably afford to pay.

That's the maximum you, or anyone, should ever pay.

So, how much below that should you go? Well, one variable is your sense of the seller's motivation. And days on market is one measure of that. All things being equal, the longer a property has been on the market, the more motivated a seller is likely to be. Not always (sometimes it's been on the market a long time because the seller is absolutely convinced it's worth top dollar), but often. Look for other signs of motivation: Is the house vacant? Have the sellers bought a new house? Are they moving due to a job relocation? Are they getting a divorce? The more motivated the sellers, the more likely they'll be to take a low offer.

Then figure out how much they paid for the house. If it's listed for $300,000 and they paid $100,000, there may be ample room for you to negotiate. On the other hand, if they paid $275,000, they may not be able to accept a lowball offer...at least not without doing a short sale. (What they paid is no indication of what the house is worth. But it does help determine whether they can accept your low offer.)

So, using those guidelines, make an offer. One of three things will happen: (1) Your offer will be accepted (in which case you'll kick yourself because you could have offered even less, but you'll have gotten a good deal); (2) Your offer will be countered, which is good news because it means your offer is being taken seriously and you're in the ballpark; and (3) Your offer will be rejected. That's OK; just move on to the next one.

One final question many buyers ask is: How low can I offer without offending the seller?

As we've already noted, some sellers will be offended by an offer 1% under listing price; others will be grateful for an offer 20% under listing price. You don't know. ( Inside secret: The real estate agents involved don't know. And sometimes even the sellers don't know until they get an offer in hand.) So you make an offer. Don't worry about offending--or insulting--the seller. That's their problem. Let them be offended by all the folks who didn't make offers. You're stepping up to the plate and making an offer. That's neither offensive nor insulting.


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