Seller unwilling to budge on price

[Matthew Drew]

Hello, Need some help here. We are trying to purchase another rental and the seller needs some help. The home is in a great area but the house needs at least $40k in repairs. I wrote a letter that walked through the repairs to help show the seller she is asking too much. Thus far we have put in 3 offers as we do suspect her RE agent may be dragging their feet. According to her RE agent they get multiple offers per week around the same price range we are offering. So we went $7k above, and she still turned it down. What is the best approach to get the seller to realize what the house is worth? Any suggestions? Matt

[Linda Weygant]

While this can be an annoying situation, it's just a house.  It's just a deal.  It's not personal.  You can roll your eyes at the seller's attitude, but that's about it.  I'm in a similar position and I just made sure that everybody involved knows that my offer is good for several months.  Later this summer, when they realize they are unable to move their house at the price they want, they can ask me if the offer is still valid and the answer will most likely be Yes.  I haven't been arrogant, I haven't been argumentative.  I've listened to their opinion on the worth, nodded and said that I understand their point, but my price is firm.  I've been friendly and open and I hope they remember that when they realize that they have to come down quite a bit in order to sell their property.

The issue is that they are 

A)  using zillow and trulia to value their house, not an agent or an appraisal.

B) using comps that have been remodeled VERY nicely.  Their house has been neglected for at least 10 years.

C) they have a target of the amount of money they want to take home at closing.  It's what they "need", not based on actual house value.

Your seller isn't motivated enough yet.  Mine isn't either.  Be patient.  And if somebody does come in much higher and is able to make a deal work, that's fine.  You should already be moving on to the next deal.  Don't put all your eggs in this basket.  You know what the house is worth to you and what it will take to make a deal work.  When you start raising your price on the buy, it means you'll be wanting to cut corners on the rehab or you'll be equally unrealistic on the sale side later.

Hang in there.