Someone is interested in buying our home

[JanetRose]

We have not yet contracted a real estate agent....and not sure how much to ask for the house; how much does the amount that the house is appraised at ties into the asking price?

 

[eileenjez]

We have found that if you price your house at say $200,00.00 and the appraisal comes in at $150,000.00 the bank will not loan more than the appraisal. The buyer than has to come up with the difference if they really want to house or you would need to come down. The trick is to see just what the price of houses are going for in your neighborhood. You can go on Realtor.com or Zillow to see what the prices are in your neighborhood. That should give you a good idea of what the real estate agent will recommend you sell your house for.

 

[ronandannette]

@JanetRose why did you start an exact duplicate of your previous thread?

 

[nkereina]

how much does the amount that the house is appraised at ties into the asking price?

We have found that if you price your house at say $200,00.00 and the appraisal comes in at $150,000.00 the bank will not loan more than the appraisal. The buyer than has to come up with the difference if they really want to house or you would need to come down.

This is correct. I work in banking, and its true that the bank will not loan more than the house is worth, so the buyer would have to pay any difference. They may not be in a position to do that, and may not be willing to if they are paying more than the house is worth. I also agree with PP that neighborhood comparisons will be a big driver in the price. No one wants to overpay in a neighborhood where it might not be warranted.

If you have someone interested in your house, you may not even need a realtor at this point. The hard part of finding a buyer is done already, so they'd just be taking their commission percentage from your sale. If it were me, I'd try to do the legwork on my own and come to an agreement with the buyer. Where we live, we use attorneys for closing and they can provide a lot of help and insight too. My parents, who sold their first and only house after 40 years, were able to navigate everything without a realtor and only with a closing attorney.

 

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

I wonder if they have a real estate agent? Have you got an appraisal? If not, you should be able to find an appraiser. If the buyer is going to be getting a loan, then this will have to be done for their bank. I don't know if the bank would want to have this done with one of their approved appraisers or not. Are these people talking about ordering an appraisal? If you go ahead and get one done on your own, then you have your own. You don't have to just go by what their banks appraiser comes up with.

Shouldn't they be making an offer if they are wanting to buy. They don't have any dibs until they have made an offer. Depending on what real estate agencies or banks they might have involved is what can make the difference. Don't rush. Don't give them any asking price right away until you know what all is going to have to be done.

Just a caution. Just in case. When my Hubby's parents passed away, there were two people who swooped in before we even called anybody about putting the house for sale or got an appraisal or anything. They were only looking out to try to get it for themselves for like nothing. There are more people out there like that than you might like to think. I know somebody who ran into some questions with a loan that their ex husband had taken out without her signature, and she lost the house. It went to a buyer behind the scenes who looked for houses that they might be able to swoop in on. That was so sad!

 

[nkereina]

Have you got an appraisal? If not, you should be able to find an appraiser. If the buyer is going to be getting a loan, then this will have to be done for their bank. I don't know if the bank would want to have this done with one of their approved appraisers or not. Are these people talking about ordering an appraisal? If you go ahead and get one done on your own, then you have your own. You don't have to just go by what their banks appraiser comes up with.

Good points. In a typical transaction, the bank will assign one of their approved appraisers to come out and appraiser, and the buyer will pay for it. But in your case, OP, it may behoove you to pay for one on your own if you don't have any idea of pricing and decide to forgo a realtor. If you have a general idea of what you want and what your house may be worth, and idea of what houses around you have recently sold for, then you probably can do without one and just let the buyer get theirs.

Shouldn't they be making an offer if they are wanting to buy.

I was wondering about this too, OP. Sounds like your house isn't for sale. Did someone approach you out of the clear blue expressing interest or did the person know you've been wanting to sell and just haven't taken the step yet?

 

[wishuponastar1984]

I had a condo in a very sought after building and had a realtor contact me about selling my unit and gave me a price. It was pretty easy to research since there were comps in the building. I wasn't in the market to sell but had been considering moving back to my home town. I decided to use FSBO.com to have it listed on the MLS, just to see what would happen. I listed it for 15K more than the private offer. FSBO puts you in touch with a local realtor who for a flat fee puts on the MLS, loads the photos you send them and then directs any offers you receive to your email. I ended up getting 25K over asking.

 

[mrodgers]

We have not yet contracted a real estate agent....and not sure how much to ask for the house; how much does the amount that the house is appraised at ties into the asking price?

It doesn't tie into the asking price at all. You can ask anything you want and if someone is willing, they can pay whatever they want.

The loan stuff is on the buyer. It's up to them to pay whatever the agreed upon price when doing the deal whether a mortgage, cash, or combination of the 2.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

I had a condo in a very sought after building and had a realtor contact me about selling my unit and gave me a price. It was pretty easy to research since there were comps in the building. I wasn't in the market to sell but had been considering moving back to my home town. I decided to use FSBO.com to have it listed on the MLS, just to see what would happen. I listed it for 15K more than the private offer. FSBO puts you in touch with a local realtor who for a flat fee puts on the MLS, loads the photos you send them and then directs any offers you receive to your email. I ended up getting 25K over asking.

Good for you to get $40K over the original offer.

 

[wishuponastar1984]

Good for you to get $40K over the original offer.

There is usually a reason that someone is making private offers and that is because it isn't usually beneficial for the seller. It doesn't take much to reach out and there hope is that they can scoop something up for under value. Same thing with all those signs you see that say "we buy houses cash"