I own 6 houses. I hate games. I respect that it is just listed and offers are pouring in. If the buyer is qualified and has the down payment and credit to purchase the property then sell the damn house at a full asking price. If there are strings and contingencies then keep looking for a real buyer. I sold a property last year. I fixed it up and prepared it for market. I paid $150 for an inspection, corrected all the items that they found, had the inspection updated (free from the same company), included the document with the disclosure, and listed the house with a realtor. Lots of people wanted the house but only a few had the actual resources to BUY the house. I accepted a solid offer, lower than two of the other offers, and sold the house. When I buy a house and people start playing games I submit a number and let it stand for 30 days. No more no less. If they start playing games, I simply stick to the offer. Sometimes I lose out but I usually get the house. I live in a LCOL area in Ohio. These bidding wars work in HCOL area where buyers are trying to secure a home. I watch them try it here and it doesn't seem to work. If the number is higher than the appraisal then the bank won't lend the money. It really is that simple.
congrats on owning 6 houses and not enjoying games i see nothing wrong with what the OP is doing - maximizing his return here in a hot market for something he owns is capitalism at its finest. Its clear you're not a fan of it but it doesnt make what the OP is doing incorrect
This is the correct response I believe. It's funny to see the emotions that come to the table in some of the MMM forum threads. I think we all need to remember to zoom out and reassess.
If you own 6+ houses and are flipping, selling, etc... sure, you don't want to get involved with bidding wars, etc... It's not worth your time and/or emotional investment (or maybe it is; there is a shit ton of money at the table sometimes). But just because you feel that way, doesn't mean it's the best or logical choice for everybody. For most people, making some well timed precise moves in terms of marketing, negotiations, etc... can result in major success. This is roughly what I tried to do. I tried to make a few smart moves in order ot optimize the $$$ I would get back, while not pissing off buyers too much or risking things too much. It's all a grey area of course, but I think I took reasonable risks. Some people commented about how I shouldn't jerk around the buyer, or do things that are mean, etc... To quote the Dude, "that's just like your opinion, man". But also, it's wrong, and it's assuming that your either playing nice or you're an asshole. In reality, there is an in between area where you can both be nice/reasonable/respectful and also optimize your profit.
We got two solid offers (good financing), with the original coming back slightly higher. They both used escalation clauses (we raise our price by X if some else outbids us, and our cut off point is Y). The original buyers would have gone as high as 10k higher than their asking price, but it only went up 1.5K because the second buyer didn't go that high. Was it worth the extra work? Yes; this also occured in slightly more than 1 day. Was it worth the hastle/stress? Yes, because it was a good life lesson (first time seller). Was it worth the risk? Yes. Sure, there was a slight chance it could have gone to shit, but the first buyer was VERY interested, and we were aware. They weren't going to walk. There was also a chance we could have made much more than we did... but we didn't happen to get a counter offer that drove the price up enough. In theory we could hav eproceeded with the open house and tried to get more offers, but we have reached our limit of how involved we want to get for now (a lot of backstory I haven't described). This also might begin to piss people off or scare people. All a subtle balancing game.
We aren't out of this yet; still have to get through their inspection and the appraisals and see if that raises any hell. But, both offers were well financed and so I think we are likely to succeed.
One poster mentioned that I shouldn't not sell the house at a price I wouldn't want to buy it at, or something like that. As other responders have indicated, that is totally wrong. There is not a direct correlation between what you will pay and what people will pay. Lots of speculation here on something that is quite complicated. On a side note, I totally would pay my asking price for this house. I would pay more... like 10k more probably. It is an unbelievably good deal. The house is a mid-century modern wonder... totally in vogue now, but undervalued in my current conservative town (read: older RE agents undervalue then, while young people love them).