ULPT request - how to get some to accept a lowball offer on a property
Posted by barlsgnarkley33@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 21 comments
So here is the situation. There is a property I want to buy - it's been on the market for over a year with a couple of price reductions. There are a few reasons for this.
1 - its a vacation property on a mountain, there is only a dirt road up to it and you'd need a big truck or 4x4 to reach it. the road is private and not maintained by the county or government - IE it isn't always easy to access.
2 - its a "3 season" property. In theory you could live there year round but this isn't something that most people would want to do.
3 - From a little poking around, I discovered the owner is more than 90 years old and lives 3 states away. I'm guessing they don't use it much.
My issue is that they want 800k for it but I can only afford 300k. How can I get them to accept this amount without blowing me off? Should I contact them directly instead of going through a real estate agent? In the listing pictures, there are old "for sale by owner" signs so it seems plausible they'd be open to it.
Any tips don't have to be unethical, I'm just keeping my options open.
BoxMunchr@reddit
Look up the purchase history for the property on Zillow. Knowledge of what he paid could be useful.
barlsgnarkley33@reddit (OP)
took a minute for me to find it, its not on Zillow. $85k back in 2001. SMH. Now I don't feel so bad about the offer lol
somebodyelse22@reddit
It's like dating: if you don't take a shot, your success rate will be zero.
Try and buddy up to them, and explain that the 300k includes selling your first&born child. One serious offer may be enough: best of luck, hope your dream comes true.
barlsgnarkley33@reddit (OP)
This might be my best bet. I am very attached to the area that this house is in and almost wonder if writing a sincere letter would be a good option for me here
QualityKatie@reddit
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Write a letter. It can’t hurt.
UntitledDuckGame@reddit
It’s a half a million difference. Give up on it. Maybe they have a nice 1 bedroom shack for your budget you can look for
Money_Ad1068@reddit
If this property had a building or utilities, you could offer to skip inspections. If it's just vacant land, the only leverage I can think of is that you can pay all cash with a shortened closing period.
I closed on a very similar property to the one you describe. It had acreage and a shop with electricity and a well. Original listing price was 299k, a year later it was reduced to 239k and then 200k a few months after that. I offered 180k and they accepted with no counteroffer. Part of my offer was to forgo official inspections, which was an incentive to this particular seller.
The 500k difference, though....
barlsgnarkley33@reddit (OP)
Thanks. It is a house with utilities, but only a wood stove. I read the condition disclosure and everything seems in order, and had figured I'd need to forgo inspections.
Wanderlustwednesday@reddit
I’ve never used a realtor to buy a property and never would, (you still need a good real estate lawyer even with one, so the realtor is just a middleman anyway and the lawyer includes the same buying advice and documents in the nominal flat fee they’re already charging). So, that removes a good 3-4% right off the top. If the owner has it listed with a selling agent, you have to go through them, so you’re stuck paying their percentage, ( don’t at me about the seller paying their realtor because it’s bs - the only one writing a check is the buyer and the price is higher to reflect that). Now, if there’s no listing agent, you are free to contact the owner directly and try to make a deal. One significant issue though with a 90 yr-old is the possibility that the owner may have cognitive issues, and if they don’t have a diagnosis of that now, accepting an offer for a third of the asking price is going to set those alarm bells off within their family. In fact, it very likely would lead to that determination and the deal would very likely be deemed invalid. Tread very carefully here because you sound like you want to take financial advantage of an elderly person and that can not only lose you your deal, it could also land you in serious legal trouble.
barlsgnarkley33@reddit (OP)
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I hadn't considered the potential for family to step in. The property is listed with a realtor. I have some mutual friends with the realtor although I don't know them personally. That said, in the listing pictures, there is a sign that says "for sale by owner" suggesting to me they have had it listed for longer than Zillow indicates.
UntitledDuckGame@reddit
Lowballing is normally a 20-30% drop. Not asking for only a third of the normal value. You aren’t lowballing at that point you are trying to scam. Give up on it and get a better job. Better luck with the next house
2tofu@reddit
Agreed. At this point if he takes your “low” offer he might also give you money to take the property.
ACynicalOptomist@reddit
Have someone put in a really ridiculously low ball offer. And then when they reject that have someone put even lower offer. Then they'll see that the property isn't worth as much as they thought it was.
Ass_burgers_yum@reddit
Bury a body on the property and have the police “discover” it.
LackingUtility@reddit
I saw a series of documentaries involving this concept. What you should do is get a convincing costume and rubber mask and sneak onto the property during showings to appear and chase away prospective buyers. Moaning, rattling chains, etc., make them think that it's haunted, and then the owner will be willing to sell cheap.
The primary risk is if a group of teenagers shows up with their dog.
svh01973@reddit
Rut-row!
Green_Yesterday3054@reddit
Before accepting your offer, why wouldn’t he lower the price to $600k or schedule the house for an auction?
sunshine-and-kittens@reddit
Fake EPA violations on the property?
ziostraccette@reddit
First of all make sure the value is around what he's asking.
GooseOnAPhone@reddit
If it were closer to the asking value I’d say you have a chance, but your trying to get more than 60% off. Unless they are in dire need to sell the property immediately (which since it’s been listed for a long time, doesn’t seem to be the case), I couldn’t see them entertaining that offer at all. Most of the cash for homes places will give you about 50% of its assessment, so they could easily sell to a company for more if they needed the money that fast.
That said, are you going to be able to float the taxes and maintenance on a $800k property? You will be taxed on the assessed value, not what you pay for it.
And as the other guy said, if the owner has any family, they are going to lose their minds if they find out that this super old man sold this place for less than half of what it’s worth, and then you are going to have to deal with them suing you and likely winning because the price disparity is so great.
fatboy2481223@reddit
Marry the owner, then inherit the property when he passes