Hi Linda, thanks for dropping by my post. we have to meet soon. It good to have associates so close in ActiveRain. I love this place.

Congratulations on your offer. I hope you have a smooth escrow and prompt closing. Happy Holidays.

     Dionne, thank you for your words of encouragement.  We are really close to each other, wow, I feel like I've made a new friend.  It's fun sharing within the AR community, and I've learned so much too. 

     I agree it would be great to meet.  I'll look for you the next time I come to one of the North County broker meetings.  Do you go regularly?

I received a lowball offer last week and emailed the offer to my client with a note explaining that I am legally required to send it to him, so don't shoot the messenger. He was out of town. When he returned, he emailed to say, "Why didn't you call me?" I had to ask if he really wanted me to call him with that kind of offer, and it turned out, no, he did not. But it's got him thinking about a price reduction now, so lowball offers are good. Send more my way!

Elizabeth  you are so right.  I'm happy to get any kind of an offer on my listings.  Even a low ball offer provides another opportunity to have that dialogue we need to keep up with our sellers to get the job done.  I hope that this has sparked something in your seller to bring that price down a little.  Many times the low ball offer is just the impetous that they need.  Good luck with your listing, and have a Merry Christmas.

Some sellers still do not understand, or they are not wanting to understand given their financial position, that a property that is overpriced in this market has no chance of selling (depending on local factors obviously).  Low offers can work either way.  If you have a motivated seller, then great.  For the less motivated, the more low offers they get the more firm they are in their price.  Either way, you win as an agent because then you can make an informed decision to drop the client.

People want to know, and need to know, what to expect. If you prepare your sellers for low offers, instead of being insulted and blaming, they'll see it as a normal part of the process. I tell them to be upset with the people who don't make offers, not the ones who write a check and sign an offer. I also tell them that many buyers are just testing the water, want to make sure they're not leaving any money on the table, and often a very low offer can really result in a contract.

Tyler I haven't dropped very many clients in my career, in fact, only one.  I 'm just so happy to receive any offer on a listing, it's pretty easy to put a real positive spin on even a very low ball one.  I let the sellers know they have an interested buyer and this is just like a conversation on paper, so let's talk.  There's always something good to point out and work with. 

     On the other hand as you say it may work in the opposite direction, but I've never experienced that.  Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.  Happy New Year!

Linda - Great job with this!  Congratulations and best of luck to you in 2008!

Thank you Joseph for your kind words and well wishes.  If all goes well we'll be closing escrow in the next week or so.  Best of luck to you this year as well!

I'm glad the seller decided to listen to you and realized that no matter what an appraisal says if a buyer isn't willing to pay that, then it isn't worth that!

Todd you are so right. Appraisals give an opinion of the value of a property, but the true value is what a real buyer is willing to pay for it, provided the seller is willing to agree to it. Works everytime! LOL Thanks for stopping by to comment.