How much should I offer on this house!! Advice please!?

Question

My husband and I are considering buying our first home. We found a house that is definitely big enough (4 BR 1.5 BTH), but the owner has admitted (and we've seen the pictures), that the house has a bad pet odor and the carpet is in bad shape and the whole carpet of the house needs replacing. The paint is also tacky and not done professionally, and the basement/bottom floor (its a bi-level) is only partially finished. The furnace is 15 years old and the seller "doesnt know" how old the roof is, she lived there for 7 years. Its been on the market 2-3 months. It does have a chain link fenced back yard (ok sized) and a nice deck on the side of the house. It is in a small town in Kansas. Asking price was $107,500 (ridiculous I think), but has dropped to $99,500. What should we offer? The carpet is going to have to be replaced before we can even move in. What would you do? Thanks for any advice/opinions.

Answer 1

Do what I recommended my parents do when they were selling at the peak of the last seller's market - name your dream price.... and then offer 5-10% lower then that.

This is a buyers market. There is no such thing as a perfect house - just a whole lot of great potential investments that will fit the bill.

P.s. My parents got their asking price for the house, and so can you.

Answer 2

I would honestly inspect the house prior to purchase. The reason I do say this is that pet odor can get into your floorboards as well depending on what has been laid. This can cause problems with mold, odor that isnt fixable and even cause you and your family to get sick. I would have an inspector do an evauluation on the property and then maybe have the owner do an assement or your realtor will typically give you an estimate. I dont want you to waste your hard earned money on something that will end up ruining you and your families lives. Also another thing Im not sure if you have small children but sounds like this house is old and paint will most likely have lead in it cause a health hazard to you and your family. Even if lead pain has been covered it still poses a health hazard. Also have the foundation checked as you say it has a basement. Bugs typically are a big problem with foundation cracks. If i can think of any more I will edit this. Hope it helps and hope u get the place or ur dreams not nightmares.

Answer 3

get an estimate on the repairs, and go from there.  the place doesn't sound worth the headache.

Answer 4

$95,300

Answer 5

It sounds cheap to me. You still can't buy a building lot around here for that price.

All real estate is local. Check "comps", what the comparable homes in the area are selling at. Then adjust for the work needed.

You can get some info from websites that answer the "What is my house worth" question after you fill in all the figures and the location.

And real estate agents can run the comparables for you.

Good Luck