September 27, 2006

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th, 2006

Got an offer yesterday. Lady from three weeks ago with the husband who didn't like anything. She called out of nowhere and made an offer. She told me they'd looked at other homes in the neighborhood and made very similar offers and had been turned down every time. WHY would you tell someone this?
Her offer was WAY too low. If I'd said yes, I'd be writing a check at closing. I want to get out of here, but I'm not crazy. She told me that she was looking for a home to flip, that this would be their first flip. She said she didn't understand why everyone she'd made an offer to said no. She figured that people would be glad to get any offer and would say YES. Then she told me that "if" she called me again, her offer would be lower. Nice. I told her to throw out my phone number. I'd love to know how many people she's called.
I have to say this much, as bad as her offer was, hers was the highest so far. She wasn't that far from my bottom number. I just want to walk away with some change in my pocket. Each offer has been slightly higher than the last. At that rate, two more offers and I'll get an acceptable price and I'm out the door. Hell, one person with any sense and a decent offer and I'm done.
The overly perky Realtor at the an open house a couple of blocks away told me she'd only had 5 visitors all day. Five. "When they do make an offer, it's for tens of thousands less than asking, no matter how reasonable the price. The savvier ones still come in with a decent offer, but we're getting more and more wild low-ball offers. Things are flat, but this isn't a fire sale!" Her eyes were kind of glassy, you could almost see the anti-depressants coursing through her bloodstream.
Yeah, I know I've got to leave. My kid misses her daddy desperately and I miss having my husband in the same house with me. But I've got to push on a bit longer if I want to have any hope of walking away from the sale of this house with enough cash to buy lunch.
I showed the house to a couple and their kids on Sunday. They went out into the back yard and futzed around for a while talking and looking at the house from different angles. Only three other visitors have gone out into the back yard. All of them made offers. Cross your fingers.