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Offer Made, Offer Received

Written by Nickel - 6 Comments

After a marathon run through eleven houses yesterday (we already know the area, so we were able to get right down to brass tacks), we finally found what we’re looking for… It was the second to last house that we saw, and it has pretty much everything that we’re looking for (including a forest in the backyard).

We ended up making an offer last night. While we have yet to hear anything back from the owners, we’re quite hopeful. In other news, the lowballers came back with a much stronger offer. They’re now pre-approved, and they: (1) increased their offer considerably, (2) dropped the request for the ‘forbidden’ items (our refrigerator and the Rainbow play system), and (3) put down $2500 in earnest money instead of just $500. All this without us having given an inch. As it turns out, we won’t need the refrigerator if we get the house we’re trying to buy. Not only are the current owners leaving their fridge, but they also have black appliances, which would make our big white fridge look pretty out of place. While we’re going to leave it out of the negotiations for the time being, our fridge could become a bargaining chip as soon as we’ve agreed to terms on the new house. Anyway, they’re now close enough to the ballpark that we’ll engage them with a counter offer, so we’ll see how it goes from here.

For more information on moving, check out my Roadmap for a Successful Relocation.

Published on April 9th, 2006 - 6 Comments
Filed under: Moving

About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

6 Responses to “Offer Made, Offer Received”

1
jim Says:
April 9th, 2006 at 8:42 am
Counteroffer for some more money and throw in the fridge
2
FMF Says:
April 9th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
That’s what I would do too — only after you’re sure you have the other house (and won’t need the it.)
3
Penny Says:
April 9th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Quite often it makes sense to throw in the appliances as a bargaining tool and you might also want to think about doing so with the playset. The rationale is that if your appliances are more than a couple of years old, you can improve on your energy efficiency by replacing them and you might want some newer features that weren’t availalbe in your old model. Also, it costs money to move appliances and playsets. I just had this conversation with friends yesterday who moved recently and threw their appliances in to close the deal. They got more money for the house because of it and that offset the cost of buying new appliances.
4
RS Says:
April 9th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Sounds like you guys had a big weekend. Hopefully you get the house that you put an offer on.
5
nickel Says:
April 9th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Penny: My new employer is paying from the move, and the playset cost ca. $3000 (it’s cedar and rewood, and will last essentially forever without giving splinters and whatnot). Thus, it makes no sense to let it go for less than replacement value (much less for free on top of an already too low offer price).

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