Hello, I'd like to steal your house

In the crazy foreclosure-dominated market that we are in right now here in Michigan I suppose I should not have been surprised by the call that I got today. Someone had been out looking at houses near one of my listings and called me to basically ask if my client would give the house away at a ridiculously low price. Hew seemed perturbed when I told him that is “offer” of some $100,000 less than we are asking wouldn't be considered. “Why not?” He asked, “Doesn’t you seller realize that she must sell her home at foreclosures prices?” “No”, I replied, “No she doesn’t HAVE to do that and she won’t.”

We have really created a monster in this market. Now most buyers think that they can get any and every house at a distressed price, even when the seller is not in a distressed position. This particular fellow spent quite a bit of time trying to convince me that he was correct and that my client is wrong to think that her move-in ready home is worth more than the stripped, vandalized or deteriorated foreclosed homes that he has been looking at so far.

Hopefully we’ll get out from under the foreclosure inventory glut later this year or early next year, so that we can begin moving back towards a more normal market. And then maybe we’ll also get back to more normal buyers too. There’s certainly nothing wrong with trying to get the best deal on a house and I certainly wouldn’t argue against that; however, going into every home, whether it’s a short sale or a foreclosure or a normal owner-occupied home and thinking that they will all be priced as distressed sales is just wrong and more than a little annoying.

As I have opined here many times, real estate transactions aren't zero-sum games where, in order for you to "win", the other side has to lose. Real estate needs to be a win-win transaction, where both side feel like they've accomplished their goals - the buyer gets a good deal and the seller gets a fair price for the property. That even applies if the property is bank owned or a short sale. Let the bank get a fair price, without trying to low-ball their already low price and you will win. I've had many buyers who were intent on stealing houses who never could figure out why their low-ball bids weren't accepted and why someone else (who beat them out for the properties that they wanted) could be so stupid as to bid more than the asking price on a foreclosed property. They'll never really win with that kind of attitude; because, even if they succeed in finally buying a house, they'll always be worried that they might have be able to bid even less. Let it go! Let the other side feel good, too, and you'll feel even better.