4 ms·

For a 2k difference, I hope the sellers evaluated both offers for contingencies that would complicate the transaction. It would suck to have to carry a house fo

by op00to 5y ago

For a 2k difference, I hope the sellers evaluated both offers for contingencies that would complicate the transaction. It would suck to have to carry a house for an extra month or two and lose the $2k difference because Offer 701k can’t get their financing together! :)

arunprakash01 5y ago
[flagged]
Ensorceled 5y ago
Kind of weird to be accusing the commenter of being unable to get their financing together.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 5y ago
  I think they're suggesting the seller should understand the risks of their undertaking. If they didn't do their due diligence it could end up being the case that the offer they take was the "worse" offer because the person making it couldn't back it.
  - Ensorceled 5y ago
    Right, but they are replying to the BUYER. The seller probably doesn't even know what HN is. It's just a weird thing to say to the BUYER, "ah, but did the SELLER look into your finances before they took your bid"
    - op00to 5y ago
      A lot of what’s said on HN, in good faith, would sound totally weird in person.
  - LanceH 5y ago
    That there are other considerations for a seller aren't really relevant when the post is about bidding just higher than a round number to win it. Just as explaining how you won the bid at 2k lower by having a cash offer and writing a nice letter and being accommodating with their move out times is irrelevant to the round number argument. The story of bidding 701k is clearly in the realm of "all else being equal", nudging the price up a relatively insignificant amount can have a significant effect.
t_mann 5y ago
People seem to forget about that. As a seller, a smooth transaction is far more valuable to you than a .3% price difference (and troubles can get way more uncomfortable than just a delay; you don't want some three-letter agency come knocking at your door asking questions about your buyer or where their money came from). Just to be clear, if you're not going for the best offer for discriminatory reasons that's definitely not ok (morally and might also get you into legal trouble), but AML or financing concerns are very valid reasons.
- bitexploder 5y ago
  When we sold our house ~6 months ago we had about 7 offers and we took a solid, but middle of the pack offer in terms of price. Their offer also had strong pre-approval and financial info and they were the fastest to respond when the house went on the market. This showed us they wanted our house in particular more than the other bidders, especially considering the pre-approval for their loan and their other financial details. They were still stretching a bit to buy the house, but they came through and closed in like 3.5 weeks on a jumbo loan. Did we leave a few dollars on the table? Probably. Were we happy with the outcome, yep :)
  - mellavora 5y ago
    I used to negotiate really hard. Barely left a drop for the other side. It's a losing strategy. I found I was much better off if I could give the other side real wins. Especially in repeated games.
    - bitexploder 5y ago
      Game theory says you are leaving something on the table when you do that. But we are all humans first and optimized game theory machines second :)
      - kqr 5y ago
        Game theory is great for zero-sum situations. Most negotiations are not.
matwood 5y ago
This is how I bought my house back when the market was bad. We had cash and financing and didn't have another house to sell. In my case at the time, it was a pretty decent discount. It also helped the owner had been moved by his job, and was looking to get out of the house ASAP.
tromp 5y ago
Indeed; my offer also came with no contingencies...
whimsicalism 5y ago
Financing? In 2022?

by op00to 5y ago

arunprakash01 5y ago

[flagged]

Ensorceled 5y ago

Kind of weird to be accusing the commenter of being unable to get their financing together.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 5y ago
I think they're suggesting the seller should understand the risks of their undertaking. If they didn't do their due diligence it could end up being the case that the offer they take was the "worse" offer because the person making it couldn't back it.
- Ensorceled 5y ago
  Right, but they are replying to the BUYER. The seller probably doesn't even know what HN is. It's just a weird thing to say to the BUYER, "ah, but did the SELLER look into your finances before they took your bid"
  - op00to 5y ago
    A lot of what’s said on HN, in good faith, would sound totally weird in person.
- LanceH 5y ago
  That there are other considerations for a seller aren't really relevant when the post is about bidding just higher than a round number to win it. Just as explaining how you won the bid at 2k lower by having a cash offer and writing a nice letter and being accommodating with their move out times is irrelevant to the round number argument. The story of bidding 701k is clearly in the realm of "all else being equal", nudging the price up a relatively insignificant amount can have a significant effect.

t_mann 5y ago

People seem to forget about that. As a seller, a smooth transaction is far more valuable to you than a .3% price difference (and troubles can get way more uncomfortable than just a delay; you don't want some three-letter agency come knocking at your door asking questions about your buyer or where their money came from). Just to be clear, if you're not going for the best offer for discriminatory reasons that's definitely not ok (morally and might also get you into legal trouble), but AML or financing concerns are very valid reasons.

bitexploder 5y ago
When we sold our house ~6 months ago we had about 7 offers and we took a solid, but middle of the pack offer in terms of price. Their offer also had strong pre-approval and financial info and they were the fastest to respond when the house went on the market. This showed us they wanted our house in particular more than the other bidders, especially considering the pre-approval for their loan and their other financial details. They were still stretching a bit to buy the house, but they came through and closed in like 3.5 weeks on a jumbo loan. Did we leave a few dollars on the table? Probably. Were we happy with the outcome, yep :)
- mellavora 5y ago
  I used to negotiate really hard. Barely left a drop for the other side. It's a losing strategy. I found I was much better off if I could give the other side real wins. Especially in repeated games.
  - bitexploder 5y ago
    Game theory says you are leaving something on the table when you do that. But we are all humans first and optimized game theory machines second :)
    - kqr 5y ago
      Game theory is great for zero-sum situations. Most negotiations are not.

matwood 5y ago

This is how I bought my house back when the market was bad. We had cash and financing and didn't have another house to sell. In my case at the time, it was a pretty decent discount. It also helped the owner had been moved by his job, and was looking to get out of the house ASAP.

tromp 5y ago

Indeed; my offer also came with no contingencies...

whimsicalism 5y ago

Financing? In 2022?