25K lower than asking doesn't mean much to me. Are you still making any money if you sell at that price? What are other homes in your area going for? I think the mortgage hassle would be a pain and I'd try to make this offer work maybe they can meet you 1/2 way and then it's just $12.5k under.

I'd be inclined to try and close this existing offer.What % of asking price is the 25k? That would help format opinions about the offer

We would still make money on the sale, as we've owned this home for a long while (Va suburb of DC)...that's a major factor for thinking we should try to do this. We'd lowered the price by 10K then 20K, and it was only then that we even got showings, so we know we started out too high to begin with. The 25K difference in offer is just a tad more than 5% drop - when I look at it that way, not an unreasonable offer to consider. Thanks already for your help just with these two replies. These forums are incredibly helpful and supportive.

Get this offer to completion,asap.There are several posters here from the NoVA area, and would LOVE to get an offer within 5% of asking,heck, they would love to get an offer...Best of luck to you

Hi--

I'm in NoVa too, Fairfax Station. We had our house on the market last year from April to Oct (didn't sell) and have had it off for the past 8 weeks doing some improvements, etc. We're going back on the market ASAP, just a few more loose ends to tie up first.

Most sellers in our area (us included) were caught chasing the market down so don't make that mistake. Over our previous six month listing period, we lowered our price 105K (11%+) from our original asking price.

My advice is to work this offer. I have heard things are picking up locally but it is NOTHING like the 2005 market so do your best to close this deal!

Oh, I forgot to add, we have been paying two mortgages for the past four months and believe me, you do NOT want to go there. It's not "just" the money, it's the stress of when will we finally sell, it's the uncertainty of not knowing when it will all be over and we can truly move on. We love our new home in the "country" (Western Loudoun) but there has been a cloud over the whole building/moving experience because of our other house not selling.

GOOD LUCK and I hope this offer works out for you!

If you're in No. Va. and you're still making money out of the sale even with a $25K reduction, work the offer!!! The market is slow in that market although there are rumors of it picking up (according to Toll Brothers who said their orders have increased in November).

As Laura said, paying two mortgages isn't just about the money - there is quite a bit of stress even if you can "afford" it. We did the same as you - bought before selling. And it was probably the dumbest thing we did. Now, we were lucky. We dawdled for a month fixing things up, then put our townhouse on the market and it sold within 35 days and closed a month later. So, in all we paid double mortgage payments for 3 months. It wasn't long but it was the NOT knowing how long we would be having two mortgages that was tough.

Since then, the market has definitely slowed in our area (Anne Arundel County, MD). Another townhouse went on the market before Halloween and it's still on the market today. Prior to us, townhouses usually sold within 30 days and often within a week.

I don't know anything about your market, but 5% below is NOT a low offer.
It simply doesn't matter if you already lowered your price, buyers rightly dont consider that fact in their offer
(a lowered house price is just a way of admitting one of two things- your first price was too high for current market conditions, or you NEED to sell )

best of luck to you!

5 years ago I took a 25k hit (10%) on selling my house under the same circumstances - we had already purchased another house. The market wasn't generally down, but my house went up for sale on 9/11. Besides the emotional shock, I knew that the market was likely to stop cold for a few months so I took the first offer. My regrets are minimal. I love my new house and nothing with quite the same configuration has come on the market since and I was so happy to be able to be with my family in the new house.

Thanks so much for the info and encouragement. Our leanings were/are to "go with it", and your experiences confirm that. We're waiting to review the contract with our agent - regardless of this particular situation, may we all, who have houses to sell, do so asap! I'm hopeful, but know that it ain't over till it's over...and we've barely begun!

Absolutely jump on this offer and make it work.

We just sold our last home after 5 months of double mortgages...I can't say enough how stressful it was. The "never knowing when it will end" part was really hard to handle for me. We went through two failed contracts before our third one finally made it to closing.

Please let us know if the offer works out...I sure hope it does. Buyers are very hard to come by, so don't rely on the next offer coming soon or being as good price-wise.

Good luck!

Well...the offer is in & we'd decided to go with it, but it's also asking for 4% of selling price to cover closing costs which brings it down another 19K...so we've countered, offering to keep in payment of closing costs, but raising the price back up to cover that...here's hoping! I've got my fingers crossed for me and everyone else going through this wretched process :-(

Did you know of the 4% closing cost help? Or was this something slipped in at last minute? You didn't mention it in your original post,so that is why i ask..I think it stinks if it came after the original offer

Thankfully it didn't come in after..our agent had only talked with the buyer's agent over the phone as she was on her way back from CA...she'd asked if that was the net offer and he said yes...she now thinks it was a language barrier issue as when she got back to eyeball the faxed contract, the 4% was in the contract. Yes, you are so right...I would have been very upset if it came after the original offer, but it was just an honest misunderstanding. Meanwhile, minutes are ticking like hours... ;-)

I hope everything works out for you. I know it seems like time slows down when you want it to fly......

that's some tricky wording I would never have thought of. Good luck!

Man! 4% of selling price for closing costs? After 25 K under asking? That's a lot of $$.

If it were me, I'd wait. I'm sorry, but, no way. Wait a bit or rent it out for a year, then try again.

I hear ya! ;-) However, we've rented out 2-3 houses over 20 years and, believe me, it's the luck of the draw in terms of how well or how poorly one's rental home is treated. We've had the luck to have them returned in pristine condition, and the shock of having them trashed. Wouldn't be willing to rent this one out since it's already to sell... We're waiting for the result of our counter offer which would be acceptable to us. Thanks for your thoughts, though, and everyone's! It's rough out here in selling land!

Yes, it is. We've had ours on the market for 98 days, and got a semi-low offer on the 30th of December, we countered back at 1500 under asking (199,500 for a 2 bed 1 bath with a HUGE garage/shop) with a cap of 2100 on closing costs and he took it. Here's hoping everything proceeds smoothly.

The market here bottomed out in October. We had nothing happening between early October when we got a low-ball and mid December. Then we got 2 offers. Our Strykers returned from Iraq and things really picked up. We had 10 showings in a 2 day period. Lack of housing on post and the return of 3500 soldiers makes for a better market, I guess.

Ours did too (bottoming out in late September through much of November.) Had no showings to speak of until mid-November when we'd lowered our price by 20K (started out too high we know now, but we listened to our agent). Anyhow, we're still waiting for the counter offer - apparently there will be one so we'll see. I hope yours works out just right...I'm glad that the Sstrykers are back...mostly, of course, because that means that they're home safe, but also so that more houses will be sold!
Best of luck!!!

You need to look at any offer and decide how much you are giving in concessions versus the carrying costs to wait for a better offer.
It looks worse to take the hit in a lump sum at sale, but if you are paying on a mortgage you are throwing money away a little at a time (or a lot).
if you are paying out $1000 a month and someone asks for $5000 off, will you get a better offer withing 5 months?

Well, he might. If the average house sits on the market for 100 days, and he is 60 days in, he very well might get a better offer down the line. There's still 40 days to go, and things might be picking up now. I would always counter, no matter what the offer is. But be firm. Let them say no. Then, if they come back later, it's a huge advantage to you.

Like anything that's worthwhile in life, there's always some risk. So, one has to decide how much risk they are willing to take. We always countered back, but refused to give in to low offers because we knew that our home was priced right. We looked at lots of comps. Personally, I don't think waiting another 40 days is that risky, and he surely could get an offer that's worthwhile. Or not.

One thing I do know is that there are no easy answers.

Well, the buyer turned down our counter-offer flat. Basically he wanted to pay 40-45K less than our asking price, and though we're very willing and wanting to negotiate a reasonable deal, that wasn't reasonable for us. Sooo disappointing. Anyway, an agent apparently came by this afternoon to preview in prep for clients she's taking around this w/e, so maybe they'll come. I'm going to have a glass of wine w/ dinner and do a big clean in prep for the hordes of people that will, no doubt, come by this w/e to vie for this house...LOL Well, maybe a few will anyhow! Thanks much to you all for advice and awesome support. It's so great.

Have more than one glass of wine! I noticed a distinct upturn in showings after the holidays, so I hope something good happens for you soon. By the way, a mortgage broker recommended to us that we not take out a bridge loan while waiting for our house to sell, and instead do a conventional mortgage because the first payment wouldn't come due for two more months, giving us more time to sell. I'm not sure about bridge loan requirements, but check out the difference.

jboling - we nixed the idea of a bridge loan because of their expense...instead did a conventional mortgage because we figured it would take awhile to sell. (We actually purchased our new house in August, but settled in November because the sellers were waiting to have their own house built, so that made everybody happy. They rented back from us for two months -that ends this Monday the 8th - so our actual payments start in March.) I think we got that part right...thank goodness. I really love our new house - just don't want this one hanging on to us forever! ;-)