The only site I'll ever need...

[TDubbs]

I have a house buying question for anyone who is a real estate agent or plays one on TV.  Or has bought a house.  That's cool too.

I found a place in a neighbourhood that I like on a very large block, which is rare here.  The real estate agent told us the price is $365,000.  I was doing some hunting around and found a site that is like our equivalent to Craigslist and found the place listed "for sale by owner" on 19 October for $359,000, the difference presumably the agent's commission.   

What's the best way to approach this?  Call in regards to the FSBO ad?  Go through the real estate agent and at the time to negotiate an offer, spring the online ad on her?  And I was planning on offering a grand or two below the asking price, but should I still try and lowball the online price, particularly since it has been sitting there for over a month and how low is low enough?  I know things like this are market dependant, but sub-400,000 homes in Brisbane don't last long, particularly when they are on large lots.  The house is a bit further out in towards to rural part of the area, but still only 30 mins from the city centre.

If you can't tell, this is my first attempt at home ownership.

I'd say check out the FSBO house, you might like it better anyway. As a purchaser you're within your rights to get the best house for the best price by any legal means.

Sorry, quick clarification... It's the same house.  One price through an agent and the other via an online listing. 

I'm guessing then that you can't go around the realtor, since they showed you the property. This is where realtors/lawyers will help.

That's probably true, you may not be able to go around the agent, however, I think that's the sellers' problem.  After all, they're the ones who went around the agent by placing the ad themselves.  I say, play dumb.  Call the sellers directly and use they're advertised price as the starting point in negotiations.  If the agent finds out, play dumb.  Once you negotiate your price, it's up to the sellers to work their payment/fee to the realtor.

But, talk to your own realtor/lawyer, as Fork suggested.

Good luck.

If you just pay cash, they won't care

[Andre Dawson's Creek]

I have a house buying question for anyone who is a real estate agent or plays one on TV.  Or has bought a house.  That's cool too.

I found a place in a neighbourhood that I like on a very large block, which is rare here.  The real estate agent told us the price is $365,000.  I was doing some hunting around and found a site that is like our equivalent to Craigslist and found the place listed "for sale by owner" on 19 October for $359,000, the difference presumably the agent's commission.   

What's the best way to approach this?  Call in regards to the FSBO ad?  Go through the real estate agent and at the time to negotiate an offer, spring the online ad on her?  And I was planning on offering a grand or two below the asking price, but should I still try and lowball the online price, particularly since it has been sitting there for over a month and how low is low enough?  I know things like this are market dependant, but sub-400,000 homes in Brisbane don't last long, particularly when they are on large lots.  The house is a bit further out in towards to rural part of the area, but still only 30 mins from the city centre.

If you can't tell, this is my first attempt at home ownership.

I'd say check out the FSBO house, you might like it better anyway. As a purchaser you're within your rights to get the best house for the best price by any legal means.

Sorry, quick clarification... It's the same house.  One price through an agent and the other via an online listing. 

I think it's standard to open at least 10 k less than the selling price unless you have any special consideration that the sellers have to make (contingency sale, special close dates....). 

Find out what houses in the area recently sold for.  Then find a comparable house to compare prices. 

Usually the realtor fee is 6% (split among the two).  If you're not using one, then the seller is on the hook for 3% for theirs.  You can ask for the 3% back or you can take that off the price when negotiating.

[Old Style Man]

I'm in a different market than you, but you should offer quite a bit less than the asking price on the house. I just bought a house this summer and actually negotiated the price while I was at the Cubs home opener. We got the house for a few grand less than asking price even though the house hadn't been on the market for more than a month and even though there were two competing offers. My place is quite a bit less than what you're looking at because of the different market, but the same principle applies. I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

I'd also recommend checking with the county recorder of deeds office to see when the owners bought the house and for how much. Many counties have that information online. If your county doesn't just go down there or call. The information is a public record, so it's easy to obtain. Do your research before you offer. The more you know, yada yada. Also check out Trulia.com for comparisons in the same area for houses already sold and for houses currently on the market.

[Eli]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

[TJ]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

And you just know that while your friend probably has no complaints, he probably wistfully thinks about how low he could have gone....

In some markets, go 20 percent under. The seller's situation will dictate the price he's ultimately willing to take.

[Kerm]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

Yep.  We got $30,000 knocked off the purchase price of our house, too.  We started at $50,000 under.  If they're insulted, they're insulted.

[Old Style Man]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

Yep.  We got $30,000 knocked off the purchase price of our house, too.  We started at $50,000 under.  If they're insulted, they're insulted.

The only caveat is to be prepared to walk away if the sellers aren't reasonable. Don't fall so in love with a place that you absolutely must have it. You'll eventually find another place that you might even like better than the first if you're rejected.

[Kerm]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

Yep.  We got $30,000 knocked off the purchase price of our house, too.  We started at $50,000 under.  If they're insulted, they're insulted.

The only caveat is to be prepared to walk away if the sellers aren't reasonable. Don't fall so in love with a place that you absolutely must have it. You'll eventually find another place that you might even like better than the first if you're rejected.

Exactly.  Be prepared for them to tell you to go fornicate yourself.  And then do so on their front door handle.

[Andre Dawson's Creek]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

Yep.  We got $30,000 knocked off the purchase price of our house, too.  We started at $50,000 under.  If they're insulted, they're insulted.

We sold our house in the Boom and were once offered 30k lower than our asking price and about 10k more than we paid for the house.  Their Realtor said it was because we were only in the house less than 2 years (even though we were asking for the going rate in our neighborhood).  We told her to tell her clients to go fuck themselves and wished them luck finding a house in the area for  30k under asking.  We weren't going to deal with them again.

Of course, we weren't in a hurry to sell at the time and new we'd get more serious/better offers.  We sold it 2 weeks later for our asking price (it was the buyer's first offer because we were willing to sell it on a contingency).

Then again, it's not the boom anymore so I doubt people are as comfortable with holding on to their house as we were.

[Kerm]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

Yep.  We got $30,000 knocked off the purchase price of our house, too.  We started at $50,000 under.  If they're insulted, they're insulted.

We sold our house in the Boom and were once offered 30k lower than our asking price and about 10k more than we paid for the house.  Their Realtor said it was because we were only in the house less than 2 years (even though we were asking for the going rate in our neighborhood).  We told her to tell her clients to go fuck themselves and wished them luck finding a house in the area for  30k under asking.  We weren't going to deal with them again.

Of course, we weren't in a hurry to sell at the time and new we'd get more serious/better offers.  We sold it 2 weeks later for our asking price (it was the buyer's first offer because we were willing to sell it on a contingency).

Then again, it's not the boom anymore so I doubt people are as comfortable with holding on to their house as we were.

It also depends on what the asking price is, of course.  When we low-balled the seller, they were at least $15,000 over where they should have been.

[RV]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

Yep.  We got $30,000 knocked off the purchase price of our house, too.  We started at $50,000 under.  If they're insulted, they're insulted.

The only caveat is to be prepared to walk away if the sellers aren't reasonable. Don't fall so in love with a place that you absolutely must have it. You'll eventually find another place that you might even like better than the first if you're rejected.

Exactly.  Be prepared for them to tell you to go fornicate yourself.  And then do so on their front door handle.

Intrepid Reader: Tdubbs

There's a handle down there? So THAT'S how you get her miniblinds open!

[TDubbs]

I've heard that the general rule of thumb is to offer close to 10% less than the asking price. The worst that can happen is you don't get a counter offer, in which case you can raise your offer if you decide to do so.

This.  It never (or rarely) hurts to make a lower offer.  A friend of mine just bought a house that was listed for $335,000.  He offered $300,000 just to start negotiations, and the people ended up taking it.  He was just hoping to get it down by a few thousand.

Yep.  We got $30,000 knocked off the purchase price of our house, too.  We started at $50,000 under.  If they're insulted, they're insulted.

The only caveat is to be prepared to walk away if the sellers aren't reasonable. Don't fall so in love with a place that you absolutely must have it. You'll eventually find another place that you might even like better than the first if you're rejected.

Exactly.  Be prepared for them to tell you to go fornicate yourself.  And then do so on their front door handle.

Intrepid Reader: Tdubbs

There's a handle down there? So THAT'S how you get her miniblinds open!

I kind of get this RV post.

[Simmer]

Congrats to RD for being a first-time entry into the market game, and good luck on your purchase.  Thanks to all the replies too, this has been some very helpful and worthwhile information.

[Kerm]

Congrats to RD for being a first-time entry into the market game, and good luck on your purchase.  Thanks to all the replies too, this has been some very helpful and worthwhile information.

I know this isn't a spam comment, but it sure reads like one.

[Mike Douche]

Congrats to RD for being a first-time entry into the market game, and good luck on your purchase.  Thanks to all the replies too, this has been some very helpful and worthwhile information.

I know this isn't a spam comment, but it sure reads like one.

Just shut the hell up and send the damn money to Nigeria, please.