Counteroffers, asking price, short sales

Representing a Buyer, I just had negotiations fall through on a Santa Monica Condo.

The asking price was $439,000, my Buyer offered $05,000.    Our estimation of a fair price was $415,000 and thus we were disappointed to get a counteroffer of $434,000.  After a second round of counter-offers, negotiations broke down almost $20K apart.  It happens.   My Buyer was determined not to overpay and the comps supported his position as far as I’m concerned.

But here’s the important thing:   the listing agent revealed that the Seller owed nearly $400K on the property.  The break-even point at which the Seller would not have to put money into the transaction or attempt to work out a Short Pay with their lender would be around $425K.

Finding out what Seller owes and whether they can afford to sell at a reasonable market price is becoming an important step to take in this market.     If a Seller simply can’t sell at what seems to be a good market price to the Buyer, the Buyer needs to move on and find another property.

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