Steve Thibault ,Flagstaff Real Estate

Flagstaff Fielding a Lowball Purchase Offer on Your Home

11-12-10

Fielding a Lowball Purchase Offer on Your Home

By: Marcie Geffner

Consider before you ignore or outright refuse a very low purchase offer for your home. A counteroffer and negotiation could turn that low purchase offer into a sale.

You just received a purchase offer from someone who wants to buy your home in Flagstaff. You’re excited and relieved, until you realize the purchase offer is much lower than your asking price. How should you respond? Set aside your emotions, focus on the facts, and prepare a counteroffer that keeps the buyers involved in the deal.

Check your emotions

A purchase offer, even a very low one, means someone wants to purchase your home. Unless the offer is laughably low, it deserves a cordial response, whether that’s a counteroffer or an outright rejection. Remain calm and discuss with your real estate agent the many ways you can respond to a lowball purchase offer.

Counter the purchase offer

Unless you’ve received multiple purchase offers, the best response is to counter the low offer with a price and terms you’re willing to accept. Some buyers make a low offer because they think that’s customary, they’re afraid they’ll overpay, or they want to test your limits.

A counteroffer signals that you’re willing to negotiate. One strategy for your counteroffer is to lower your price, but remove any concessions such as seller assistance with closing costs, or features such as kitchen appliances that you’d like to take with you.

Consider the terms

Price is paramount for most buyers and sellers, but it’s not the only deal point. A low purchase offer might make sense if the contingencies are reasonable, the closing date meets your needs, and the buyer is preapproved for a mortgage. Consider what terms you might change in a counteroffer to make the deal work.

Review your comps

Ask your REALTOR® in Flagstaff whether any homes that are comparable to yours (known as “comps”) have been sold or put on the market since your home was listed for sale. If those new comps are at lower prices, you might have to lower your price to match them if you want to sell.

Consider the buyer’s comps

Buyers sometimes attach comps to a low offer to try to convince the seller to accept a lower purchase offer. Take a look at those comps. Are the homes similar to yours? If so, your asking price might be unrealistic. If not, you might want to include in your counteroffer information about those homes and your own comps that justify your asking price.

If the buyers don’t include comps to justify their low purchase offer, have your real estate agent ask the buyers’ agent for those comps.

Get the agents together

If the purchase offer is too low to counter, but you don’t have a better option, ask your real estate agent in Flagstaff to call the buyer’s agent and try to narrow the price gap so that a counteroffer would make sense. Also, ask your real estate agent whether the buyer (or buyer’s agent) has a reputation for lowball purchase offers. If that’s the case, you might feel freer to reject the offer.

Don’t signal desperation

Buyers are sensitive to signs that a seller may be receptive to a low purchase offer. If your home in Flagstaff is vacant or your home’s listing describes you as a “motivated” seller, you’re signaling you’re open to a low offer.

If you can remedy the situation, maybe by renting furniture or asking your agent not to mention in your home listing that you’re motivated, the next purchase offer you get might be more to your liking.

More from HouseLogic

6 Tips for Choosing the Best Purchase Offer for Your Home

6 Reasons to Reduce Your Home Price

Marcie Geffner is a freelance reporter who has been writing about real estate, homeownership and mortgages for 20 years.

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Horsemen Lodge on Hwy 89 in Flagstaff AZ is a Quality Western Restaurant

11-06-10

Steve Thibault ,Flagstaff Real Estate

HORSEMEN LODGE IS A QUALITY WESTERN RESTAURANT

Are you new to the Flagstaff area? If so...you will just have to try this place!

Anyone who has lived in Flagstaff for any length of time knows where to go eat when they want a great meal, and they usually choose Horsemen Lodge because Horsemen Lodge is a quality western restaurant that has been serving their fare for over 35 years.

Owner Bob Lupo started back in 1975 when it was just a one room cabin. Bob added more room as the business grew and now seats over 200 guests and even with that he has a waiting list most weekends. Bob then added his Signature Salad Bar which was once a wagon. And because Horsemen Lodge is a quality western restaurant the salad bar boasts fresh Homemade soups daily, fresh lettuce and spinach, Bob's original recipe Marinated Beets, fresh made Carrot Salad and everyone loves the fresh Waldorf Salad and tasty Seafood Pasta Salad.

All the entrees come with the Salad Bar and fresh baked Sourdough Bread and either Baked Potato, Seasoned Fries. Sweet Potato Fries, Pecan Rice Pilaf or Potato Pancakes with apple sauce. That's because Horsemen Lodge is a quality western restaurant.

Skull All the beef used for the Filet Mignon, Rib Eye, Top Sirloin and New York Steaks is top quality, USDA Certified Angus Beef, I can tell you this because I work there part time as the Broiler Cook and Meat Cutter when I'm not Selling Houses. That's how I know that quality is Bob's main priority.

The Trout is always fresh, never frozen and Bob always brags about how it's guaranteed not to have a single bone in it because they bone it with a laser!

Some of our best sellers are: the Chicken Fried Steak (always a favorite), the Lupo Trout or Mountain Trout, and of course any of the steaks with the Rib Eye being the most popular. Also in the top 10 is the Seafood Pasta and the Pine-nut Crusted Fried Shrimp (Yum!) not to mention our Baby Back Pork Ribs slow smoked over mesquite for hours (Double Yum!)

THE HORSEMEN LODGE IS LOCATED
3.5 MILES NORTH OF THE FLAGSTAFF MALL
8500 N. Highway 89 — 928-526-2655
Open Monday - Saturday for Dinner at 5:00pm

HURRY! Contact Me To Learn How You Can Get Dinner for Four! (LIMITED TIME ONLY)

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Thankful To Be Living In Flagstaff Arizona

11-03-10

Steve Thibault ,Flagstaff Real Estate

I'm very Thankful To Be Living In Flagstaff Arizona

My 14 year old daughter left for school yesterday morning a typical teenage girl, everything is wrong, I don't understand her, if only I had this or that my life would be better...

girl w/ composition book

After school, Flagstaff High had a guest speaker at a rally named Calvin Terrell who seemed to change her way of looking at life. She actually came home and gave me hug and said "Dad, I Love You" and proceeded to tell me about how she didn't want to take anything in life for granted anymore. (thank you Calvin) I thought to myself how thankful I was to be living in Flagstaff Arizona with my daughter Sydney.

It got me thinking since Thanksgiving is just around the corner I thought I'd list a few of the things I'm thankful for in Flagstaff Arizona.

Being a single father of a 14 year old girl I'm thankful she has a great head on her shoulders and knows what she wants out of life.

I am thankful for all my friends and family, without whom I would be lost.

I am thankful for the beautiful area we are able to live and work in every day, Being at around 7000 ft. we do not get any smog or pollution build up, the air we breath is always fresh and clean.

I am thankful to have the opportunity to serve my community from Continental Country Club to Ponderosa Trails by helping families realize their Real Estate dreams.

Are you looking to buy or sell a house in the Flagstaff area? I would be very thankful if you let me show you the area. Call or email me and we'll do breakfast-on me.

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NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY

10-29-10

Steve Thibault ,Flagstaff Real Estate

If we are ever going to get out of this current financial downturn we will have to bite the bullet and say enough is enough and just do it.

Truth is you can get a good deal, Especially if you play hardball. This is a buyer's market. Most of the other buyers have now vanished, as the tax credits on purchases have just expired. We're four to five years into the biggest housing bust in modern history. And prices have come down a long way– about 30% from their peak, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index, which tracks home prices in 20 big cities. Yes, it's mixed. New York is only down 20%. Parts of Arizona have halved, while here in Flagstaff they only fell 9%. Will prices fall further? Sure, they could. You'll never catch the bottom. It doesn't really matter so much in the long run.

Plus mortgages are very cheap. You can get a 30-year loan for around 4.3%. What's not to like? These are the lowest rates on record. As recently as two years ago they were about 6.3%. That drop slashes your monthly repayment by a fifth. If inflation picks up, you won't see these mortgage rates again in your lifetime. And if we get deflation, and rates fall further, you could refi.

Don’t forget you'll save on taxes. You can deduct the mortgage interest from your income taxes. You can deduct your real estate taxes. And you'll get a tax break on capital gains–if any–when you sell. Sure, you'll need to do your math. You'll only get the income tax break if you itemize your deductions, and many people may be better off taking the standard deduction instead. The breaks are more valuable the more you earn, and the bigger your mortgage. But many people will find that tax breaks mean owning costs them less, often a lot less, than renting.

There are many more reasons to buy a home now and will post them in my next blog.

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