Real estate mags: WTF does "In negotiations" actually mean?

[justcuz]

Dumb question I'm sure, but wife and I are really interested in this house which has only been on the market a few weeks, and the realtor says they're "In negotiation" with a buyer.....

Does that mean that a buyer put an offer in on it and they're waiting to hear back from the seller??

Is there any way to slip in under the radar and steal the thing while they're messin around with "negotiations"?

I want this frikin house!

[Canuk]

Not sure about the RE laws in your area, but in Alberta, offers are supposed to be looked at independantly of one another, so slipping in under the radar when the seller is most likely dealing on another offer might be tough.

[L7]

My guess is this is what is called a 'conditional sale' here. A deposit has been put down but there on conditions such as, conditional on financing, conditional on selling current home, conditional on home inspection, that sort of thing. Then you just have to wait and hope something falls through.

The other possibility is the realtor is trying to get someone else to buy possibly to double side the deal and increase comissions or to facilitate some other sale somehow. This is probably illegal and therefore not likely. If it was the case you making it clear directly to the owner wouldn't be that out of line but you then make it quite clear you really want it so be ready to pay up to play.

[Viva]

Sure, put in an offer. Any reasonable seller will entertain multiple offers and if it is, indeed, too late, they'll just reject your offer.

Whose realtor? Your's? An agent ought to know how things work in your local area.

EDIT- if it is a conditional sale, then an offer has been accepted. But that shouldn't preclude you from presenting a back up offer, unless local laws prevent that.

[SkiCougar]

i'm not a realtor, but i am a slumlord that owns rental homes; so i can can give you educated guesses based on lots of home buying experience.

what happens is they sign a contract at a price both have agreed, usually for 10 business days to do inspections and stuff if the seller has accepted an offer. during this point, you cant get in there.

then, usually the buy will try either commit to the price or try and cite something to be fixed and lower the price. at this point, the seller can reject and move on or send back a counter. this is probably the negotiations theyre at. you can try and get in at this point, but the seller has to refuse the current buyer first.
if theyre at this point, you might try and finding out who the sellers agent is and let him know that you are ready to buy.
you might even try offering the sellers agent to be the agent for you(buyer's commission) and the seller. he then gets mostly likely a 6% commission instead of the 3%; but remember he's favoring the seller now; make sure your insprections are rock solid if you try that; but thats a possible way to steal it.

[PNWbrit]

If you want it make an offer.

Realtor will either tell you why they can't accept it, that they won't accept it or will bite your hand off.

Not rocket science. If you communicate your desire to get into property to agent and are able to offer acceptable price with minimal fucking around and dithering on inspection they'll make it work. Do you have financing pre-arranged?

Good luck.

[Conundrum]

Put your offer in. The seller's realtor will tell you if they can/can't take any offers at the time. Depending on the timing of the deal, the seller can entertain more than one offer.

[sar13]

If you are willing to offer full price or damn close to it then make your offer. In this area saying "in negotiations" but not "under contract" or "pending" would mean the seller has not yet commited to sell to some other buyer. The seller's agent is trying to bring in a better offer. Most likely they ahve received a low offer and are trying decide whether or not to accept it and the agent wants you to come in higher so they can reject the other offer.

There is nothing illegal about this. We call it shopping an offer. If I get a less than full price offer on one of my listings my job is to get as much money as possible for my seller. I will contact people/agents who have shown interest in the property and see if I can tempt them to make a better offer. It would be unethical to tell them what the offer I have actually is but not illegal.

Even if the property is under contract, as the seller's agent, I would still want to bring in back up offers, just in case the first buyer bows out due to financing problems or some other reason.

I am a Realtor, by the way, but laws and standard practive do change from state to state.

Edit to add: Nice post count Justcuz

[justcuz]

Sar, thanks for the prop on the post count. Now it's time to ruine it....

These are the words out of the SELLER's Realtor's mouth:

"I am really not sure about whether or
not that buyer will pull through and I could not give you the particulars of
that offer. The offer was submitted yesterday so it is still in
negotiations"

I'd say it's game on, wouldn't you?

Edit to add value to the post: House is listed for $175. On a large canal that is a great place to ski, sail, etc. Canal is a shipping lane for boats passing from one side of Lake Superior to the other. House is in town. Two kitchens, shitty yard, and needs some TLC (which is what we want). House is a steal even at 175 IMO.

[Ski Monkey]

I'd say it's game on, wouldn't you?

For sure but you better act quickly. The worse that will happen is they reject the offer. Or you lose a hand.

[PNWbrit]

"I am really not sure about whether or
not that buyer will pull through and I could not give you the particulars of
that offer. The offer was submitted yesterday so it is still in
negotiations"

That's an almost gold plated invitation to put in your offer. Do it quick before seller acepts the other offer and you become the back up.

[SkiCougar]

yeah following others here, submit an offer; dont let it go by without trying for it. if its under contract, youre SOL; but you can still submit offers.

[Viva]

Sounds like Game On...also sounds like seller's agent is an idiot, take advantage of that fact.

[sar13]

Sounds like Game On...also sounds like seller's agent is an idiot, take advantage of that fact.

Could be an idiot or could be good at making you make a full price offer? Maybe there isn't another buyer (unlikely), he is going to get you best offer right off the bat and get his seller full price. Doesn't sound like an idiot to me.

But it does sound like a good deal. Buy it!

Edit to add that I have no idea where you are and the cheapest house on the market here is $549K so of course it sounds like a good deal to me.

[justcuz]

Update:

Talked to the Lister Realtor guy again. The owners have to put in a counter by tomorrow at noon, and then the people who put in the offer either have to accept or reject that counter by Saturday at noon. As the realtor put it, I'm "In the time frame still". Meaning I have a chance if I put an offer in by Sat. at noon.

Done.

[RootSkier]

That is strange. Around here, he would have presented your offer and then put out a multiple counter offer to both of you if both offers were similar. Otherwise, they should have taken the better of the two.

This is why it is good to have a buyers agent who is working for you (doesn't cost anything, either).