Land purchase ????

[wisconsinteacher]

My wife and I found some land we are very interested in. We started very low and the seller responded within 24 hours with a counter. From there, we put a price that would put us in the middle. Again, 24 hours later and she replied with her bottom dollar. We then came under by $5,000 and have not heard from her in a week. The agent can't get a response or a simple text from her. He has no clue where she is or what is going on. He said she could be on vacation.

I'm guessing we were upsetting her by going back and forth but now what we are so close and even willing to go with her last offer, she has gone missing.

As a first time buyer, what should we do? The agent said he will continue to contact her and call me back. I'm going crazy and don't know what to do.

What would you do?

 

[ignorethefringes]

I know I get pissed as a seller of anything when I give an honest bottom dollar figure and I get undercut again. I probably would have cut you off too. I can't even stand it when people on offerup or craigslist start with, "What is your best price?" rather than making an offer. I'm like, "My friend, I put a price on the thing, that's my opener. You make me an offer" I don't even respond to those typically.

I think you should plan on moving on. If you hear from her again then great, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[BlakeA]

If she gave you her bottom dollar and you went below that, she is probably done dealing with you. It's crazy how many real estate deals fall through over 5k or less which in the grand scheme of things is nothing.

 

[Mudranger1]

Like said above...I would expect to move on and just see it as a surprise if she talks to yall

 

[RemingtonRules]

You are at the mercy of the seller and what they want to do. Lesson learned, when you are that close you might as well step on over rather than try to squeeze another penny.

 

[npaden]

If you really want the property I would go ahead and send a contract over at her last offer price and hope she takes it.

 

[MNElkNut]

My perspective is different. Most people get ants in their pants (sounds like you have them!) and cave. Unless the market for this property is super hot, I would let her sit and let her get the ants in her pants and think you are gone. Then I would come back with a formal offer. Never tell your agent how hot you are on a property....anything you say can get back to the seller and they will use that to their advantage. If she thinks that you are hot on the property, she is doing what I would do (well, I wouldn't ghost the realtor, but I would just say "thanks for the offer" and let it go at that) and you are going to pay her price. It is all about negotiating and dealing from a position of strength vs weakness. The one who shows desperation is going to be the one that loses that last $5-10K.

 

[npaden]

I would agree if it wasn't "land we are very interested in". I've seen more people end up settling on something down the road because they are tired of looking than I have people upset that they paid a little extra for the exact piece of property that they wanted.

Now, if this is just a ordinary piece of property and you are regularly seeing similar property for sale then by all means keep bargaining for the best price.

 

[MarvB]

I’ve got 15 acres currently for sale, both listed with a realtor as well as the option to self sale. This has happened to me numerous times as the seller and, at times, if the chasm is still too deep after I give my bottom line I’m just “done” and they won’t hear back. Other times if it’s close enough I’ve changed the terms (like owner finance, a balloon payment, interest rates, etc.) so that they get one more bite of the apple and I get closer to my “bottom price”. Knife cuts both directions....

 

[elkantlers]

Sounds like you should have ponied up the extra 5K.

 

[JLS]

Again, 24 hours later and she replied with her bottom dollar. We then came under by $5,000 and have not heard from her in a week.

It's not too hard to connect the dots here. When you lowball someone, you always run the risk of pissing them off. Lesson learned, if you wanted it that bad and you're going crazy about it, then you really weren't bargaining from a position of great leverage. If you're 100% fine with either getting it or not, then that's a different story. Go find something else.

 

[MarvB]

One other thing... it also depends on what % of the asking price the $5k is; I’d be a little offended if it was say a $30k piece of dirt vs a $159k one...

 

[westbranch]

If you actually want the property send over an offer at the price they said. If you keep asking about it then they will know that you are very interested and stick to their price. I can see why they would be annoyed when they already said it was their bottom $ price and you came in lower. I might delay responding just to annoy you, but I do think quite a few sellers take things personally as well.


We were buying a duplex a few years ago and the seller was terrible at communicating with their own agent and did not respond to our offer at all. They finally said that it was "as-is" at the listed price. I was able to do a little searching on the seller and knew that they probably did not need the money and we were still comfortable with the listed price so wrote up the necessary offer.

 

[bullbugle307]

Never tell your agent how hot you are on a property....anything you say can get back to the seller and they will use that to their advantage.

I'm sure it happens all the time, but isn't that illegal?

 

[MNElkNut]

Probably is, at least to some degree. I am sure each state varies. But agents have loose lips and many like to talk about their clients. In reality, much info is portrayed that shouldn't be. If you stay completely anonymous the other party has nothing to leverage.

For example, lets say in conversation, your agent says you have 2 darling kids. Innocent enough, right? Okay, well, then one could assume that if it is in the summer, you want to get settled before school starts, so the seller now has some leverage (time). The seller can wait and the buyer with kids gets the ants in the trousers.....Right, wrong, illegal or not, that stuff happens and plays into "the game".

 

[LacSeul]

Counter your last offer to her preferred price and wait - maybe include a letter with a little background of family intended use etc. sometimes works it worked for us

 

[wisconsinteacher]

Great points. Her last price was $120 and we came back with $115. It has been on the market for over 300 days. I guess all I can do is wait or send an official offer over to the seller.

Yes I have ants in my pants. I will try to be more patient moving forward. Agian, thanks for the advice and help. What is bugging me is the no resonse to the agent from the seller. If they are mad and don't want to deal with me, just tell me and I will walk away.

 

[LuketheDog]

My wife and I found some land we are very interested in. We started very low and the seller responded within 24 hours with a counter. From there, we put a price that would put us in the middle. Again, 24 hours later and she replied with her bottom dollar. We then came under by $5,000 and have not heard from her in a week. The agent can't get a response or a simple text from her. He has no clue where she is or what is going on. He said she could be on vacation.

I'm guessing we were upsetting her by going back and forth but now what we are so close and even willing to go with her last offer, she has gone missing.

As a first time buyer, what should we do? The agent said he will continue to contact her and call me back. I'm going crazy and don't know what to do.

What would you do?

I sold real estate for a while. I'd venture a guess that you low-balling her bottom dollar by $5,000 is simply offensive to her since it's a land deal and the value is probably not that high anyway. If you're 'very interested' in the property and the price is fair, pay for it, have your agent re-write the offer at her bottom dollar. Don't nickel-and-dime the seller until the deal falls apart. How long will you own the property? 20 years? Maybe it's worth the extra $20.83 per month to come up $5,000 to her low price...

*Edit, I see you added some numbers, what was the original asking price that you negotiated down to $120 already?

 

[JMG]

She may have had another offer (better) during the time your were going back and forth with her. She may be working with this better offer and if it "falls through" … she may get back to you. Potentially a missed opportunity.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

The list is $125.