Mortgage rules are changing daily, and after spending an hour on the phone the day with the local Wells Fargo manager I learned that first time homebuyers are going to have a difficult time obtaining a mortgage as soon as the end of May. The 3% down is going to change to 10% with the shape that Fannie May is in. I would take the deal, it's all paper so it's not as if you're writing a check for 9K.

This is called a sellers concession. Its pretty common. Basically the offer is $2000 under your asking price. Take it. You're not "spending money" to take the offer. The figures are all on paper. Yes, you will pay the tax on the higher offer, but it shouldnt be much. In NY it would be about $36. Ask your realtor what the tax implications are for your state (Or ask your atty if its a state where attys are used). BTW, the commission is NOT based on the higher price it is based on the amount less the $9000.

When I sold my home last May it was a similar situation. I had never heard of doing something like that either before then, but my agent explained the whole thing to me. The only concern was that the house must appraise for at least the amount it is selling for (including the "extra"). In my case, the lender got wind of it at the last minute and had a problem with the transaction (I dont know specifically why)-so they put off the closing until the buyers figured out anther way.

The buyers ended up having to borrow the closing money from a relative (but stated to the bank that it was a gift from the relative), and we ended up closing a few days after we were supposed to.

I wish I was as lucky. We are those buyers who need the 6% back to close because we don't have the 18K needed to close (this includes the 3% for FHA). Nobody takes our offers and we offer over asking to help compensate for the $ we need back. I wish people would understand that it isn't that we have bad credit or are risky borrowers.

This happened to us a number of years ago. The buyers were cash poor, but had the income to qualify for a mortgage on our home. They ended up paying more for our home and we absorbed closing costs. This ended up netting us $2,000 less then we were asking on the home. We took it because the net was definitely inline with what we were hoping for. I think if I were you, I'd take it, you also are only netting 2k less then your asking. Yes you will pay the commission on the extra 9k. One thing I'd be careful about is the appraisal. Will the home appraise for 9k more then you were asking? If it doesn't then the buyer may come back at you wanting you to make more concessions.

Fishdelasol if no one takes your offers, consider getting another agent. Something must be wrong in the presentation. This is very common and of no consequence to the seller. There is no reason in the world a seller shouldnt take an offer with a seller concession, especially if you are pre approved with a bank to do this. Cordovamom, it might be an area thing but in my area, commission is NOT paid on the increased amount, it is only paid on the actual sales price.

Thank you everyone, for your input and help ! I really appreciate it! I'll take the offer and count myself darn lucky!

Smiles,
Sooz

Linda,

Our transaction happened back in the early 80's and the commission may have been figured differently back then.

Linda--We have considered that, but all of our offers (except one) have been made on REOs and the bank has very specific forms and contracts to present an offer. We just fill in the blanks and initial. We are pre-approved with a bank, too. We like our agent and feel that she has done very good business with us. She probably could have gotten us into just any home at this point, but continues on in our search with us. We are total newbies to house buying.

This is common, but there are limits to how much of this you can do. It's more the buyer/borrower's problem, since mortgage cos. know this is what's going on and it's a way to evade putting as much money down. If you haven't fully accepted, i would agree to it but make them waive any kind of financing contingency or basically put them on the hook if this creative approach doesn't work with their lender.

Also, it could affect the taxes on the transfer/recordation, as well as your agent's commission.

Fishdelasol, Ahh, REO's are a different story. I dont believe a bank would ever accept an offer with a sellers concession. Try the average homeowner.

LOL! I live in SE FL...there are none. Seriously, we rarely see houses that are owned by an actual person.

LOL! I live in SE FL...there are none. Seriously, we rarely see houses that are owned by an actual person.

OMG is that true? I heard the florida market was bad, but I never imagined it was that bad!