Ha, we hear it all the time, good post, Janie. I think most of us do. I always say, write an offer and we will see.

"Are they negotiable?"  Sure, what are you offering?

"Are they negotiable?"  Let's find out.

Real Estate Testosterone, or pursuing the deal instead of the property.

One of my favorite replies to people who do this is "Negotiations take place in writing."  I find if I repeat it often enough it gets rid of the tire kickers who truly aren't motivated.

Great post - All buyers want a  deal no matter what the comps are.  I just noticed your meez do you ride?

Janie,

I think that there are quite a few buyer's agents out there helping to feed this frenzy. I recently had a listing where the buyer's agent was the one lowballing us. When my client countered with what I felt was a fair offer, the buyer's agent balked and loudly protested. I explained that that was the price and the terms. When the answer came back from the buyer, her agent was still complaining and trying to knock the price down, but the counter was gladly accepted.
There are just some agents out there who believe that they need to create a reputation of being able to steal any home under any circumstances. This is, of course, feeding the frenzy and giving many the impression that the current market warrants such behavior.
Keep your head up and the facts straight and things will work out. It's the level headed agents who will come out in the end.

maybe my response to that question should just be "I don't know, why don't you make an offer"? when they call on a yard sign and don't know the price....that might wake them up to this back-a$$ way of thinking....

Janie

You have made a good point here.  As the market dropped, many sellers took a "buy it now" price approach. Having cut the fat in pricing out along the way.  The more distressed the market becomes, a property priced to cover loans and closing often does leave much "negotiating" room.  Call signs are a challenge-often the ONLY thing they want to know is the price. I personally find them frustrating at times.

I like your answer though- tell them it is a million dollars reduced to $____

Mike, you hit the nail on the head, "pursuing the deal not the property!" great!

Kris, great response, I like it!

Rebecca, I rode my whole life until I went to college,  then life interrupted.  I bought a property for horses just 4 days before Hurricane Wilma and lost much of the home and all of the barn, fencing.  We are still rebuilding so this is my virtual horse until then.

Andrew, we just had the same thing happen.  A buyer walked in off the street, no agent.  Actually made an agreement with our sellers (we weren't present) for X dollars.  Our seller said that we need to write up the deal and a mystery agent pops up and beats the seller totally down to the point the buyers (who loved the house) almost lost it.  An example of the buyer's agent wanting to "be the hero" almost lost a family their first home

Mike, you hit the nail on the head, "pursuing the deal not the property!" great!

Kris, great response, I like it!

Rebecca, I rode my whole life until I went to college,  then life interrupted.  I bought a property for horses just 4 days before Hurricane Wilma and lost much of the home and all of the barn, fencing.  We are still rebuilding so this is my virtual horse until then.

Andrew, we just had the same thing happen.  A buyer walked in off the street, no agent.  Actually made an agreement with our sellers (we weren't present) for X dollars.  Our seller said that we need to write up the deal and a mystery agent pops up and beats the seller totally down to the point the buyers (who loved the house) almost lost it.  An example of the buyer's agent wanting to "be the hero" almost lost a family their first home

Allison, I can't wait to try it out!

thank you Phylena!

We get that question all the time too. So the conversation on a 200k house goes, Buyer, How much would they take? Me I klnow they would take 200k anything else I would be happy to present as an offer. Our market is second home to a large degree and not going down. So we have the added joy of dealing witth folks coming from a down tranding market who think it is the same here

Janie:

No. They are not negotiable!  What are these buyers thinking?

I would be answering the prospective borrower like this. "You know, that's an interesting question you asked and I don't really know for sure but the better question might be, what offer do I have to put in to ensure beating out other reasonable offers the sellers may receive?."

Let's answer this question with "Depending on their expectations, it's possible. However, if they've priced their house right, there won't be a much give for negotiating as you refer to it". Let the 'BUYER' then digest this sentence. Many times, they'll come back to earth.

Charlie, I bet that is fun!

Bill, that is the best answer yet, thank you for giving me some good fire-power.

Mike, another great response!  We're not poker dealers here, this is serious business with serious funds at stake 

Janie - enjoyed reading the post and I think Bill Burress hit the nail on the head.

Janie,

Great post........I also like Bills' response.  A serious seller has the home priced to compete with their market to begin with.   

thanks Aziz, thanks for stopping by, always a pleasure to "see" you!

Sarah, me to! 

Hi Janie! I love this post because this has been all I've been hearing from a lot of potential buyers. They seem so consumed with what they can negotiate that they are losing sight of everything else. Its crazy. :)

Hi Pamela, you hit the nail on the head, they are so consumed that the loose sight of the real issue.  It is like a first time buyer going to a court house auction... they just want to buy regardless of the value....And you can't tell them otherwise often!

I have heard some weird things from real estate agents down here. I think that there is a lack of professionality due to the many that came to the industry with the big boom.

they've got people asking questions... and I've even heard them telling "but they'll accept _________"

or I have heard buyers agents say, "It is listed for __________ and they bought it for _______ in 20___... so you can pick it up for __________"

if the seller is negotiable, won't you find that out in contract negotiations??

David, I hear that asked for all the time without even being asked what is going on with the seller....UNSOLICITED!

Janie, I am getting that comment a lot as well. Yes, it is blinding a lot of people. It is hard sometimes to get people (buyers and sellers) that we don't dictate the market price, the market does. When we pull current stats on homes it tells us what homes should sell for. "The deal" is how much we can negotiate based on the market.

Janie,

Good article. This has been coming up alot for me to. I think that because the market is now in favor of the buyer many of them think they can push a seller around. And I think they sometimes can. The sellers here in San Diego are starting to get desperate for offers. I think that they might be willing to give up a $2,000 item and close escrow then to put it their home back on the market and reduce the price by $20,000.

Buyers market, buyers rules. Strong buyers agents know this and willush the sellers and thier agents to the limit.

Stephen, I wish some of my recent buyers would even be interested in the market, but the new trend is not to even care about that, but just to lob a chunk of the listing price regardless of where the listing price is (high or low).  They just want to negotiate for the sake of negotiating, it is odd.

Mike, no doubt about it, but I think they should know how much the house is priced at before they start negotiating, who knows, it could be such a deal that it is going to sell in a day, ask the intelligent questions first then negotiate... 

Stephen, I wish some of my recent buyers would even be interested in the market, but the new trend is not to even care about that, but just to lob a chunk of the listing price regardless of where the listing price is (high or low).  They just want to negotiate for the sake of negotiating, it is odd.

Mike, no doubt about it, but I think they should know how much the house is priced at before they start negotiating, who knows, it could be such a deal that it is going to sell in a day, ask the intelligent questions first then negotiate... 

I like to say something along the lines of, "The seller has told me to bring him all offers. If he asks my advice, I would suggest that he not reduce his price, but it's his choice.."

I hate that question. As if I'm going to tell the buyer or buyer's agent what the bottom line is. I usually state, Make an offer and I'll present it. That's the only way to find out. 

Robert, good answer!

Erica, it still is shocking how often the listing agent will flat out tell you, unasked, the bottom line! 

Hi Janie,

Thanks for the post.  Addressing negotiating strategy with clients early on avoids this question. Clients know what to expect and can plan accordingly.  Written offer is a must in any negotiations.

Catherine

Catherine, you are right, agents should discuss it up front, but I have also seen agents wanting to make themselves look like super-heros and try to negotiate a killer deal, more than the buyer would have on their own, and the deal dies and the buyers are disappointed.  I have seen it more than once.  That combined with the bargain basement buyers and it gets frustrating....