Got a contract on the house in 6 days at 110% of asking price!

[Retired To Win]

This is going to be the fastest home sale I've ever been involved in.

We put our 2nd house up for sale last Monday.  By the end of that day, we had 2 offers.  It became clear to the realtor that we would be getting multiple offers, so we made it known that we would gather in all the offers that came in by that Sunday and then decide what to do.  We ended up with 6 offers.

One was an incredible 35% above listing price.  But we didn't think the house could appraise for that much.  The next highest offer was for 120% of asking price.  That was a strong offer, but it still would involve a mortgage contingency and a home inspection that would probably result in a requested roof replacement.  So we looked at a cash / as is offer at full listing price.  And wondered if we could goose that one up.

We countered that full listing price offer with a bump-up to 110% of listing price.  We let that bidder know that there were higher offers on the table, but that based on the terms of his offer we would take "less" from him.  And he came across, agreeing to pay 110% of listing. We figured that would net us just about as much as the 120% offer when we adjusted for the higher sales commission and the very likely roof job.

And so here we are.  All the inspections are done, and we're looking at closing the deal next week.  Which is lightning fast.

Pretty neat, huh?

[Cheddar Stacker]

Neat, yes. Splendifferous might be a better description. Nice work R2W!

[forummm]

Wow, that must feel great!

[SenoritaStache]

Wow that's impressive.  Good job!

[ender]

Every post like this makes me cringe for the time we eventually want to buy :(

But it works out nicely for you ;)

[Axecleaver]

Nice! What location was the house in? And do you feel like you underpriced it? An all-cash offer is the right choice for sure, so much added risk with the contingencies.

We just sold our house in three days, for asking price, but we purposely dropped that price to move it fast, and it is working out great (so far anyway). I just traded some emails with the buyer, and offered him a bunch of our furniture, power tools, and assorted crap that I would have had to Craigslist before we moved... he bought almost all of it, add another $5k to the pile. Feels great to get rid of stuff.

[DecD]

We have something similar (though not quite as perfect) happening right now- put our rental on the market on Saturday, had two offers by Monday, accepted one 5K over asking.  Will close August 7th if all goes well with their financing, the inspections, etc. 

It was unexpectedly speedy.

[Mrs.LC]

Good for you! Now you can buy his and her hot tubs!!

[Hummer]

Good for you! Now you can buy his and her hot tubs!!

Are you sure you have a mustache? Sounds like you are clean shaven. :)

[Retired To Win]

Nice! What location was the house in? And do you feel like you underpriced it?...

We have a major road construction project happening directly in front of our house.  The highway department eminent-domained a major chunk of our front yard and tore it all up in the process of their road construction.  This is all still happening, although reaching its end game.

Realtors told me that I might be able to get 10% more for the house if I waited (about a year) for the construction to be concluded.  But that would have been a year of a vacant house requiring mortgage and utility payments.  Financially, it seemed to us that waiting would at best result in a financial wash.

So we listed the house for 90% of what it would have listed for if the road construction were not happening.  That apparently triggered a bidding feeding frenzy.

[CashFlowDiaries]

That is amazing!! Congrats on selling the house so fast and at more then what you originally expected. 

Huge win!! 

[Another Reader]

Fodder for your next blog post.  How many agents did you interview and what was the lowest bid? ;-)

[AlanStache]

Am on the opposite side here, yesterday-Saturday I made an offer on a house.  No word yet.  Is starting to get to me, keep checking my email.  Still no word.  Place had been on the market for three months and reduced in price twice, offered a bit below asking price.  It had an open house Saturday, I was literally the only one there when I showed up, selling realtor had left to get a coffee.  Real estate is local.

[Axecleaver]

The highway department eminent-domained a major chunk of our front yard and tore it all up in the process of their road construction.

Exercise of eminent domain usually requires payment. Did you get paid for losing a "lane" off your front yard? You may be able to take this to court if not, especially if you can show damages from a house selling for less than what it could have.

Saturday I made an offer on a house.  No word yet.  Is starting to get to me, keep checking my email.  Still no word.

Alan, did your offer include an expiration date? Most sellers will wait until just before the offer expires to see if a higher bid will come in. If it didn't include an expiration, you should either cancel it and resubmit it with an expiration, or call the agent and tell them you will cancel the offer in 24 hours. Always use an expiration date on offers.

[AlanStache]

Saturday I made an offer on a house.  No word yet.  Is starting to get to me, keep checking my email.  Still no word.

Alan, did your offer include an expiration date? Most sellers will wait until just before the offer expires to see if a higher bid will come in. If it didn't include an expiration, you should either cancel it and resubmit it with an expiration, or call the agent and tell them you will cancel the offer in 24 hours. Always use an expiration date on offers.

Good point, I dont recall about the expiration date, will have to check the papers when I get home.

[Retired To Win]

The highway department eminent-domained a major chunk of our front yard and tore it all up in the process of their road construction.

Exercise of eminent domain usually requires payment. Did you get paid for losing a "lane" off your front yard? You may be able to take this to court if not, especially if you can show damages from a house selling for less than what it could have.

Oh, for sure we got compensated.  But only for the "straight" loss in appraised value.  And, of course, we had to sign away any further rights or claims to be able to get that.  However, do remember: pre-eminent-domain negotiations are a mailed fist in an silken glove.  If you balk more than the government allows (and we did push the envelope), the government agency involved can simply fast-track you into court and take the property for whatever they decide it's worth.

And, yes, there was about a 10% "temporary" loss in market value of the remaining property which, theoretically, would have been recovered once the road construction was completed.

In the end, factoring in the house sale and what we got for eminent domain compensation, we recovered 98% of the appraised value.

[Retired To Win]

Well, here's a final post on this.

We closed the house sale on July 14th, just 15 days after contract ratification.  And I'm pretty happy with where that now leaves me/us.

(1) There will now be no more cash-draining mortgage payments or utility bills from that vacant property.

(2) We ended up with a check for net equity in the mid-five figures.  More moolah for the Discretionary Fund!

(3) I am done scheduling monthly 200-mile round trips to check on the property and its condition.

(4) I am finished with the constant pushing-and-pulling with the state transportation department regarding conditions in front of the property and restoration of the torn-up driveway.

(5) I am done sinking time and stress into preparing the property for sale... because IT'S SOLD!

(6) Because of items 3, 4 and 5 above my time going forward is going to be even more open and stress-free than it already has been.

Now, I just have to figure out where to go from here: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/my-retirement-compass-reset-journal/msg710749/#msg710749

[SnackDog]

Sounds like you priced fairly low which is good as you attracted a lot of attention.  Did you consider countering all the high offers requesting their best offer and letting them know you had multiple offers as high as 35% over asking and all cash?  In competitive situations it can be to your advantage to look for offers with minimal contingencies and to even avoid those by pre-inspecting and disclosing all.

[Retired To Win]

Sounds like you priced fairly low which is good as you attracted a lot of attention.  Did you consider countering all the high offers requesting their best offer and letting them know you had multiple offers as high as 35% over asking and all cash?  In competitive situations it can be to your advantage to look for offers with minimal contingencies and to even avoid those by pre-inspecting and disclosing all.

The 110% of asking cash offer we went with was originally a 100% asking price offer.  We got it bumped up on a counter by pointing out that we did have a 120% of asking price offer contingent on mortgage and home inspection.  The 135% of asking price offer was, we decided, a non-starter because we did not believe the property could/would appraise that high.

[Rezdent]

Sounds to me like you did your diligence.
Thanks for this thread.  Nice to read a happy ending!