We received another offer on The Mini House yesterday…
The offer was lower than we were looking for, but given that we’re going into the slow season, the deadline for the tax credit has essentially passed, and the fact that with the recent flooding in Atlanta a lot of houses in that neighborhood have gotten destroyed, it’s likely an offer that we’d be willing to work with. Additionally, the profit from this offer would still be above our minimum threshold, so we’d still be making a decent return on the effort.
The one catch with this buyer is that she is still working to save her down-payment. While her credit is good, she’s going to need another 6 weeks or so to save her down-payment and close on the house. So, this would put the closing at the end of the year. We’re not thrilled with taking the house off the market for that long (with the risk that the deal could fall through), but given our lack of success in selling this property so far, it’s probably our best option.
We’ve counter-offered with some changes in terms — shorter due diligence period, shorter appraisal period, etc — but I don’t expect those to be deal-breakers for the buyer, who appears to be very excited about the house.
I’ll have more in next week or two as we get through due diligence and appraisals…
Hope it works out! Actually, I’m sure that whatever is truly your best option will be the thing that works out.
Don’t do it! Wait for another offer! At least keep it on the market until she’s actually saved the money!
Hey Ez –
Yes, we’re not going to take it off the market until we have passed all the contingencies…at that point, if she can’t close, we at least get to keep her earnest money deposit.
hi how has the flooding effect the market and how bad was it. have you seen any flood damage houses come on the market yet. hope the deal works out
chris
Chris –
We actually saw the worst of it just yesterday (7 weeks after the flooding). We went to look at a house on an acre lot listed for $15K…I figured it was a tear-down but wanted to see it just in case. The entire neighborhood was 1950’s ranch houses, and about 25% of them were totally destroyed by the flooding. A few were ripped from their foundations, a few were crumpled in heaps. It was unbelievable.
Right across the street was a neighborhood of about 30 newish brick 2-story houses (probably 10 years old). With the exception of 3 of them on a cul-de-sac that was on higher ground, every single one was vacant, windows gone and boarded up, and doors and garages open making it clear the houses were torn down to the studs. These houses probably were worth $250K, and all of them needed about $100K worth of work to get them livable again.
In fact, on a few houses, you could see where the water rose to…many were several feet about the garage doors (the brick was discolored below a certain height). A couple it appeared the water came up to the first-story roof, literally engulfing the house.
I’ve never seen anything like it.