Happy Friday Afternoon, Folks!
Guess who came in to one of my listings yesterday? Wearing an old shirt, carrying a yellow legal pad, and fingering his calulator!
You might know the guy - his name: LOWBALL LOUIE! I hear he gets around, all over the country, and all around the world, for that matter.
He is often accompanied by his Buyer's Agent - I Hafta Do What Ever He Says IDA! A real accomodating sort! She always has load of clients she is carting around in that gas-unfriendly SUV she drives, but never makes any money to buy gas!
LOWBALL LOUIE went to school you know! Graduate School! Post-Grad! His Degree - Doctor of Wasting Time, with a Specialty in Don't Listen to Anybody's Advice Who Should Know Better Than You.
My listing is priced low. Painfully low. Even for today's market. And, my seller clients - they're nice, but stressed, and getting tighter and tighter on their money, now that they've moved on to their new condo.
Guess what Louie and Ida do? You'll NEVER guess!
They put together a ridiculous, 20%-below-list-price, unthought-out offer (did you guess right?) They fax it to me, and then have the gall to request an in-person presentation! (Luckily, client requested, in writing, at start of listing, that all offers be presented by our Team, as their fiduciary, ONLY! Thank heaven for little miracles!)
Today, in The Chicago Tribune, our Director of Buyers Agency Services, Kathleen Weaver-Zech, was quoted as saying that, for many, the BARGAINING is the key to their offer. "They would rather steal a place - any place - than get the house they want at a reasonable price," she intoned.
I could see LOWBALL LOUIE'S point if the house were grossly overpriced, or in poor condition, or in a challenged location. But none of these applied here!
There was apparently no analysis of the comps. No considering my seller's mortgage position. No considering any other factors at all, apparently, except, "Let's Give It a Try, Ida!"
Ida, fearing one less person to cart around in her big SUV, immediately agreed.
Two questions here are relevant -
First, has LOWBALL LOUIE paid you a visit recently, especially in today's real estate market? How did you respond?
Second, your thoughts on I Hafta Do What Ever He Says IDA? She is eager to please, you know. Would you want her to do an in-person presentation to one of YOUR Listings Clients?
We'd love to know what YOU think!
See our post today @ BlogChicagoHomes.com for our thoughts, and read Chicago Tribune Reporter Mary Ellen Podmilik's take, on buyer's offering low in today's market.
DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
Lowball Louie visits out market and he usually works with agents who do not value their time...and the agent commonly says "I Hafta Do What Ever He Says" instead of spending a few extra minutes explaining to Louie about the dynamics of our current market or running a specific CMA.
Lowball Louie dropped by both my listings last week.
I'm amazed that in this market buyers aren't buying houses based on emotion. They just seem to go from house to house making low ball offers until one takes. Interesting.
I have been "Lowball Louie" on many occasions and frankly I'm not going to apologies for it. Often I am working as a buyers agent for a young couple from our Air Force Base looking for their 1st home. I will show them homes priced as much as 20% higher then they are pre-approved for because I do not want the defenders of our country living in the squaller some people offer as a home which really should be torn down. I am working with one such couple now, both are active duty and they just married a week ago. They were pre-approved for $117, which you know is near trailer park housing. We put in an offer yesterday on a home priced at $129, and the sellers agent, like yourself was livid. Her comment "Why don't you show them houses they can afford!!!!". My response, only to myself and not her, why don't you get off your high horse, keep your comments to yourself (as they only prove you are a bitch) and just tell us that the offer was unacceptable.