Yes, folks, the little house in the vinyl village is officially under contract. There was a flurry of activity toward the end of last week and over the weekend. A couple who had come to see it wanted a second showing on Thursday and the realtor was certain they were going to make an offer. Then, on Friday, another realtor brought another couple by. That second couple wrote an offer Saturday evening. Meanwhile, a THIRD set of lookers scheduled a viewing for Sunday afternoon.
For a few hours, I thought I might have multiple offers to weed through, but ultimately had only one. And it was an OK offer to start with. They offered $6,500 less than asking, and also wanted closing costs paid and a warranty provided. We countered back at full asking and refused to foot the bill for the warranty, but agreed to pay their closing costs. They offered again at $3,500 below asking and threw the warranty back in, and we made a fair and final counter of $1,500 below asking, no warranty, and paying closing costs. And they took it!
Now, if you remember when I bought my car, you know I will squeeze every dime I can get out of a deal. And so while it might seem silly to go back and forth for a few grand, I would rather I got that money than the new owners did. And so I turned to the internet. In a few seconds, I found the wife’s Facebook account. I found out they wanted to live closer to town. I knew that their old house was sold and set to close March 19th. I knew that they’d put in another offer on another house the first week of February and it didn’t work out. So I knew that they were coming down to the wire and I smelled money.
Then I looked up the listing for their existing house. Their taste seems very similar to mine, they had used similar colors, they have the exact sofa I have, so I figured they probably LOVED my house and considered it move-in ready for themselves. So, in the end I wished I’d gotten more, but considering that I sold a house bought at the height of the housing bubble for MORE than I paid for it, relatively quickly, I count myself lucky. Now, just keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly until closing!
Ummmm. Did you not know that there is no such thing as a smooth escrow? I hate to tell you that, my friend.
Shh! dont jinx me!
Okay, I may need your cunning and expertise to get our house sold. If you come to stay we can provide gourmet meals and as much likker as you can handle. How does that sound?
At any rate, WAY TO GO VV! You done good!
We plan to be ruthless too as soon as we get the house all *fixed*. Maybe by 2015? Are you in?
Congratulations on the offer! Keeping my fingers crossed everything goes smoothly through closing. Our house will be on the market in less than a month, I hope we get a fast offer. I love that you used Facebook! Very resourceful.
Congrats on the house deal! We will have to pick your brain when it’s our turn to try to sell our little piece of suburbia!
Sooooo, where to now?
And your next stop?
Thanks everyone! I’ve said many times that I am blessed to have good friends. Long story short, for the time being I will be “housesitting” at the townhouse I’ve been staying in the past few months. That will help my friend, help me, and give me some time to make my “next stop” a perfect one.
In this economy, I am thrilled for you! No one gets offers that close to listing price, or so I am told. I’d love to buy my first house (We are in a tiny condo) because my friend just bought one for $40,000 here in Michigan.
Ya know, there was something on the news not long ago about how parts of Michigan can be had at fire sale prices. For fun, I got on some Detroit-area real estate sites. I was AMAZED. I mean for $150,000 you can easily find a gorgeous 4000 sf house. And for less than you would pay for a decent car, you cant totally get something worth living in.
I’m soooo happy for you!!!!
“doin’ happy dance”
happy and relieved!! Literally the day after we went under contract, two more houses in the neighborhood hit the market for LESS than mine, and later this week the five houses that have been sitting here empty since the developer went broke two years ago suddenly had for sale signs in front of them.
Hooray!!!!!!!