Tiny backstory, I'm 7 years older than my boyfriend & have been married, owned a home, and divorced. I feel as if I understand what to look for in a new home, & I have a good idea on property value & comps in the neighborhood. His family has bought a total of 1 home in the time he has been alive, & they had immense financial help from their mother to offer a substantial down payment. Therefore, they could negotiate more. They feel we should be offering at least 10% less than asking, & feel I was immorally swayed by the real estate agent, for her percentage to be higher. (We are putting no earnest money down, & we are getting a federal grant for our down payment. No help from mommy or daddy here.)
That being said, here lies my problem: My boyfriend thinks I pushed him into making a home offer that is unfair & is questioning the morals of our real estate agent. We offered 97% of asking price & are asking for closing costs. The seller has only been in the home a couple of years, paid $102,500 for it, & is asking $106,900. The home is in a great family area, has a new roof, new hot water heater & furnace, a dry basement installed, updated plumbing & wiring, 2 wood burning fireplaces, & no foundational or structural damage. I know to look past the cosmetic side & look for the stuff that costs a lot to fix. The comps in the area are actually selling for an average of 98% of asking. The price of this house is also less than the assessed value.
My boyfriend thought we would ask 12% below asking to start & negotiate from there. I reminded him, not only are we coming up with $0 of our own money, but we are also asking the seller to pay closing costs. We can not offer her less than she paid on the house! I feel the offer we made is fair, & the seller will probably be enticed more to actually pay the closing costs if she at least breaks even on the property.
Is the real estate agent really that hungry for chump change on this sale? Or are we going about this the right way? This should be a joyous event, & my in-laws & boyfriend think that I am a fool & am being taken advantage of. This isn't my first house buying experience, & I am insulted that they think they know better because they bought a house over 27 years ago.
As a side note, my income is the only income in this deal as my boyfriend stays at home with the kids. His mom doesn't work, & his dad has been working manual labor/kitchen work all his life. So it's not like he comes from a family of well informed accountants...
Please if anyone has any advice, opinions, feedback... I'm all ears. I'm already stressed enough from being pregnant with my 3rd child, & working in a retail management position full time.
Submitted April 25, 2017 at 09:10AM by Grateful_Sugaree http://ift.tt/2ph6qza
