I agree, you are probably all right, however, the seller can ask what they want, it's their property. If too high it may never sell it, they have room to negotiate starting higher, but it's their house. Some list it high knowing it will not sell as quickly and use as a tax write off, especially if it was an investment property (south FL has a lot of this). Your house is only worth what your neighbors is basically, but can ask more if things recently done on it. We really do not know what the upgrades are... how old the roof and pipes are, if they just redid a pool....many factors which can add value to the home vs the neighbors which comps may not show, but have the upgrades of recently done and trying to get that higher fee because of it.
However, if the buyers slapped a contract on a house that listed too high, sort of their fault for not countering before then, right? Unless there was a contingency of some sort in place, they are held to a binding contract or lose their deposit. It's not fair for the seller to take this off the market and deal with these people for 3 weeks and then expect to lower their price substantionally because the new appraisal came in much lower. Realtor should know how this all works. The tail wagging the dog. They have a crappy realtor who didn't advise in the beginning to get their own appraisal to negotiate, and hopefully they paid for an inspection, and write all these into the contigency offer. I just feel that it's sad on the seller's side now the buyer has a moment of clarity 3 weeks into it and feels they want this huge reduction "after" the fact the contract was signed and house taken off the market. It could be a ploy and force the seller into lowering their price or lose the deal and start over. Deals fall through for numerous reasons...it's all dependent on the contract. Another reason to make sure you get a good realtor with years of experience who can guide you down the right path when buying a house and steps to take before you sign on the line. |