What do you currently owe on the house?

[Jerryll Noorden]

Hi gang.

I am about to give an offer. I got all the info except how much they owe on the hosue.

So I ask her if they own the house free and clear or if they have a mortgage.

She answers,  "we have several loans on the house".

I say OK that is fine. May I ask how much you owe?

Suddenly she gets a bit defensive and asks why is that relevant what we owe? We will pay off the mortgage when we sell...

So  now I wonder, why DO we ask how much they owe?

Is it just to see how low we can offer them? 

[Nate Wightman]

I'm sorry, my goal is to buy a property in a situation where I can build sweat equity and the sellers (you) are trying to pay off loans try to keep some for the move..  Sometimes the sellers can be underwater in that the property value and or the selling price won't cover the loans on the property.. In this case I may not be the right buyer for this house..  My hope is that we can find the middle ground and that is why I asked how much you owe on the house.