Are you sure you want to sell the house?

      

Are you sure you want to sell the house?  That is what I thought recently on a counter I received for 40000 over list price recently.  That’s 40 thousand, not four thousand so there is no typo.  The story goes that we made an offer not far below what sales in the area were going for that needed a very large amount of work (approx. 120000).  This property was listed at 110000 and has been sitting vacant for two years.  So…we walked the property and while it needed work, we found out that the back third of the house is literally falling down.  Literally meaning there is a pitch of about 15 degrees downward for both floors.

This is not an exaggeration.  The floor really is doing this on both floors.  And, this is a BIG two story house with 12 ft ceilings.  There is nothing small about this project.  And everything on both floors needed to be gutted no less.  Definitely the big rehabs job we like.  However, with lead based paint, plaster issues and all sort of other fun stuff not withstanding, Houston, we have a problem here.

The numbers:

Offer:  60’s

Highest comp:  74900

Asking price:  110000

Seems like a low offer but there is nothing in the market to support anywhere even remotely close to the list price.  The 74900 is it for the top end.  We all know this scenario well where it is overpriced but on a house that is literally falling down?

The counter again was 150000.  At which point, all I can say ‘Are you sure you want to sell the house?’

The listing agent disclosed nothing other than ‘I don’t know if the Seller will accept your offer.’  That’s it.  That was his only feedback.  We oozed with confidence.  :-D

The listing has since expired.  I love this business for the stories I see alone!  I am open to all suggestions on how perhaps this could be handled better.  In the meantime, off to the next deal!