Would you offer back at $230,000?

YES! YES! YES!

Get that house sold, so you can move on!

In this housing market, yes, I'd go for it. $230k is not that much higher than their first offer and not too horribly below your original asking price. It would be a huge pain to have to manage a sale long distance after you move and keep the house in shape for showings. An earlier thread on this site also discussed that insurance can be higher on an empty house, so after awhile your rates may go up. I think it would be a huge relief to you to have it sold.

I'd at least make some sort of reverse offer...$230K seems reasonable under the circumstances.

I think you should def do the 230K. frankly assuming 239 asking is market corect and not underpricing the house, 228K is a great offer and if you can't get them up, I think you should take it as long as they have no contingencies etc

if they don't jump on 230k, tell them you'll do 228k but thats it, no closing cost assistance, no fixing this or fixing that, no credits from home inspection, just take it or leavfe it.

My husband and I talked it over during lunch, and we decided to do the reverse offer at $230K. We realized the only reason we didn't want to do it is a pride thing ("our house is worth more than that!") and that pride things have no place when it comes to selling a house. And, in reality, we'll be about $5-6K ahead of where we were going to be, before we realized we'd get the $11K from DH's new company. So there was no financial reason, other than the chance someone else would come along and pay more, to not do this.

So please keep your fingers crossed for us that she accepts it! Our agent is coming over tonight so we can sign the paperwork.

In York County, I believe your home would be worth about $150K, if that much. and with a defective driveway( too steep).......they can be a permanent PITA.
But, of course, prices vary, as do wages..
Take the $228K offer and be thankful.

earthworm, we don't live in NY now, we are MOVING there. We live in WA, not too far from Seattle. So I don't know what your comment about home value has to do with anything. A steep driveway isn't that much of an issue here where we get maybe one snowfall a year that lasts half of a day.

FYI, the correct term is counter offer, not reverse offer.

Our agent specifically used the words "reverse offer." We did submit a counter offer (back a couple of weeks ago) at $235K, which she did not respond to. At the time, it was our rock bottom price, because we did not know we'd be getting this other money from DH's new company, and our agent communicated that to her agent. So since we are initiating a new bidding process, so to speak, it's termed a reverse offer. But we are just re-submitting the same paperwork, with a new price noted.

"earthworm, we don't live in NY now, we are MOVING there. We live in WA, not too far from Seattle. So I don't know what your comment about home value has to do with anything. A steep driveway isn't that much of an issue here where we get maybe one snowfall a year that lasts half of a day."
Please read again , I never stated where anyone lives.If you really want to sell or have to sell, you will have to lower the price....
IMO , $228K is a fair offer, so take it.
As to the driveway, one that is too steep is a problem, you may not dislike it, but others may.
AS to "reverse" or "counter", it depends on the part of the country..The meaning is the same.

I did state that we have much lower prices in York County, evidently lower than many places in our country..

So since we are initiating a new bidding process, so to speak, it's termed a reverse offer.

Okay, I get it.

Ten year down the road, you will never think about 2k or even 10k on a home sale. However, you will always remember the PITA 6 months you spent trying to sell a home a couple thousand miles away.

I hope the party will still be willing to pay that price.
I would be thrilled out of my mind if someone came that close to our asking price! Take it and enjoy it all the way to the bank! Good Luck~~

earthworm, the way you phrased it made it sound like you thought we were drastically overpricing our house. And using the word "defective" to describe a driveway you've never seen is harsh. And we are lowering the price, by almost $10K, when more than one agent has said our list price is a good one.

A steep driveway was a defect to the other person looking at the house, right? Maybe defect is not the best term.

In this market, lowering your price by 4% is MINOR.

There are probably 100 people on this forum that have been told their price by a listing agent was a good one and they have since dropped their price 20%.

And you aren't dropping your listing price, you are getting 96% of it which is considered very good by national standards in 2010.

I am defending an earthworm....

Here's something to keep in mind. When you counter offered they didn't come back with anything. If I were the potential buyer and really interested in your house I would have come back with something between your counter offer and what I had offered, unless I was at the maximum offer I was willing to go.

Having sold a house in the past six months and understanding the reality of trying to sell I would take the 228k without any hesitation. If this doesn't work out in 6 months you'll really wish you had too.

Keep in mind housing prices are due to drop up to another 11 percent in the next couple of years.

"U.S. home prices will decline as much as 11 percent by 2012 as weak demand and rising inventory extend the housing slump, Morgan Stanley said in a report yesterday."

Here's a link to that story.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-09/homes-in-u-s-poised-to-lose-1-7-trillion-in-value-this-year-zillow-says.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Housing losses

She didn't come back with anything, b/c at that time, what we had countered with was our final offer and she knew that it was take it or leave it. There's no way we were going to take that much of a cut after being on the market for only three days. Her agent said she's still been talking about our house and how much she likes it.

So what was the outcome? Any new news?

I would have called the prospect and said "guess what? I accept your offer"!

There is nothing harder than to have to support 2 mortgage payments. We sat on a house in Atlanta for several months until it sold...very uncomfy feeling.

And leave your pride on the shelf...the house is no good to you anymore and must be sold!!!

I hope the deal is done!

Acey....

Thanks for the support, David.
Fruitgirl, its a buyers market, and when one is moving far away, its more of a buyers market.
If you can sell for 90% , or close, to the asking price, I'd grab it, and be thankful.
Been there, participated, and left.
Remember, agents have a "vested" interest, in the high prices of buying and selling....
Harsh?
Yes, the world is indeed harsh.