A question by Anonymous : Basically, it is a piece of land that is nothing but 11 acres of forest. Nothing is built on it and you can only access it from one corner as the rest of the property is surrounded by a private road.
The reason I am interested is because we are on that private road since our cottage is across the street from the land. We could use it for firewood, a garage and a Bunkie for guests.
It has been on the market for a long time and there has been no movement. If the seller is asking 110K, do you think I could jump in at 60K or so?
Answers
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“It would be easy to offer a low-ball offer. but not realistic to get it accepted. There are a slew of reasons why the seller hasn’t sold. Are you in the habit of selling your investments for 50-60% of their value? That is not to suggest the property is worth the list price, just that in order to get the seller to accept less, it is up to you to prove the lower price, not to have a desperation to sell at any price. And consider a backup plan of seeking to get him to subdivide the property to buy a fraction of the 11 acres for a price you can afford. It doesn’t have to be on the road if an easement is added to allow for non-frontage access.”
linkus86
“You can always try (I would and do) when they reject your offer do not take it personal just as they should not take a low ball offer personal it is just business real estate is a waiting game. You can make a lowball offer anytime. It isn’t any easier after the property is on the market for a long time than it is the first day the property is posted for sale. Just write an offer, put a low purchase price and send it to the selling agent. There is no way to guess what they might accept. It’s highly unlikely they would accept $60k after they were willing to wait so long for an offer at $110k. If they were willing to accept $60k they would have lowered the price long ago. Perhaps they have a loan against the property and they have to get $110k to avoid a short sale. Perhaps they’re just testing the market and they figured that for anything less than $110k they’d rather just keep it.Offer what you’re willing to pay, see if they counter offer or accept. Or they might not respond at all. There is no rule that says they must negotiate.”
The cat
“Sure, if you want to. I had a home on a double lot built in 1920 that I paid $68,000 for 15 years ago and did a lot of upgrades and repairs and offered it for sale when I still owed $35,000 on it and it was worth over $100,000. I was offered $30,000 which I ignored. Well, sure, it’s easier, but on sites like realtor.com, you can look at the history of the property. This might give you a better idea of what would be reasonable, because you’ll see any price changes. Also, don’t look at the number of days on realtor.com. They play games with this. Go to the history which reflects last sale date and then any price changes or relisting’s. If they just dropped it to $110,000 last week, they’re more likely to think you’re lowballing. Still doesn’t mean it’s wrong to try, though.”