Overpriced House? How to Make An Offer On An Overpriced Home

Are you interested in an overpriced house but not sure if making an offer is worth the effort? Whether you are a home buyer or a real estate investor, you might be surprised that you can get a great deal on an overpriced house. Realtor and expert negotiator Sam Wilson helps home buyers and real estate investors with non-traditional real estate strategies to find properties that meet your personal or investment needs.

These six tips and real estate advice from Sam Wilson, an experienced realtor, offer insights about why home buyers don’t make offers on overpriced houses but buyers should. Learn how to make an offer for an overpriced house.

While you might think that an overpriced home is beyond your reach or budget, it’s not impossible to strike a deal that closes. All you need is a real estate agent like Sam Wilson who is willing to invest time in out of the box real estate strategies to help you find and buy the home you want in the Denver metro area.

1 Home Buyers Assume Home Sellers Know Their Home Is Overpriced

There are a variety of ways to confirm that a home is overpriced. One of the first indicators to investigate is to look at how long the house has been on the market compared to average days on the market for other homes that have sold. Sam Wilson can complete this research for you.

For example, if the average home is selling in 30 days and the home you are considering has been on the market for 120 days, this may indicate that the house is not priced to sell. While the selling delay may be a red flag for the home seller, this may also confirm that the seller’s motivation to sell is low.

An overpriced house can be a risk for a seller who needs to sell. The longer a home stays on the market, the more questions arise about something being wrong with the house or the house being priced too high. On the other hand, time on the market may be irrelevant to a seller who doesn’t need to sell.

2 If You Don’t Ask You’ll Never Know: Everything is For Sale

If the home has been on the market for some time, Sam Wilson or the agents on his real estate team will speak to the listing agent to ask about declined offers and to inquire about making an offer that might be considered.

Many homes for sale today in the Denver metro area have professionally created videos. Viewing a home virtually means that you may not need to take time to visit the home until after the seller considers an offer. A home visit can be a contingency in a real estate offer for moving forward with the real estate negotiation.

Start With Market Value Instead of Asking Price

By starting with market value instead of the asking price, the seller may be willing to negotiate. The more information your realtor can present to the listing agent about home sales in the area, the better the opportunity you have to negotiate an agreement. In some situations, deal points can be discussed over the telephone by realtors before finalizing an offer on paper.

When telephone negotiations occur, Sam can follow up with a written offer and the expectation of receiving a counteroffer. When a home buyer receives information about what the seller finds to be a negotiable price, you can choose to continue or end the negotiation. Know that the counteroffer price may or may not be the bottom line for the home seller.

3 Tips to Make Your Offer Stand Out

If you want to make a low offer on an overpriced home, work with a knowledgeable realtor to determine how much the asking price is above a realistic market price. When you make an offer to buy, consider a substantial amount for the deposit or earnest money so that the seller knows you are serious.

Including a mortgage pre-approval letter in addition to being flexible about closing dates and other deadlines can be beneficial, especially if the seller is not currently living in the home or lives in another area. If your realtor can learn what the seller wants from the deal, you have a greater likelihood of putting a deal together.

Having Time On Your Side Can Be Beneficial for Negotiating An Overpriced House

If you are in no rush to buy a home, make an offer you feel is reasonable with a clause that gives the seller time the ability to keep the house on the market for a specified number of days. If a buyer comes with a better offer, the seller can accept the offer and pay you a specified fee for the delay in your ability to purchase a home.

If no buyer makes a higher offer, the real estate process moves toward a closing date. This type of offer for a serious seller offers the best of both worlds, a potential higher price and the home’s eventual sale.

This concept is similar to Sam Wilson’s home sale guarantee that offers home sellers 100% of the asking price. If the house does not sell at the asking price, Sam pays the home seller the difference up to a specified amount identified in the real estate contract.

While some realtors believe that home sellers should never meet homebuyers—even if only virtually. A buyer has little to lose and much to gain in a situation of an overpriced house. A seller may be more likely to negotiate with a likable buyer than a name on a piece of paper. At a minimum, a letter of interest should be included when an offer is presented.

4 Home Sellers May Be Testing the Market

There are several types of home sellers. It’s important to know the type of home seller you might be dealing with when looking at an overpriced house.

• Sellers Testing the Market. Homeowners in hot vacation markets like Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs, or Vail, Colorado, may only be testing the waters to see if someone will buy their home. In this situation, there may be no real need for the homeowner to sell. In this case, a realtor to realtor telephone call can determine whether it’s worth making a market value-based offer.
• Sellers Choosing the Wrong Realtor. In competitive real estate markets, unethical realtors may encourage home sellers to price above the market. There are also times when a homeowner wants to believe that their home is worth more than other houses in the area. When this happens, the seller hires a realtor willing to stretch the National Association of Realtors definition of fiduciary duty for a realtor versus a realtor who offered a realistic price opinion and declines to represent the home seller.
• Sellers With Emotional Attachments. Another situation arises when an overpriced house results from the owner or family members having an emotional attachment to the home. Regardless of a realistic price opinion, the family is wedded to their belief that the listing price should be greater than comparable homes in the market.

5 But The Internet Says My Home is Worth This Much

Naïve home sellers and home buyers often look to the Internet, Zillow, and other major iBuyer websites to be the expert on home sale prices. The issue is that these estimates are not always accurate and can be significantly off base. Many use automated formulas to price homes without taking into consideration the condition of the house.  The risk for home sellers is getting stuck on Internet price estimates.

Today, finding a certified home appraiser to show up to complete a detailed home appraisal can be challenging. When interest rates are low, appraisers may be focusing on home refinancing projects instead of regular home sales.

Regulations for completing appraisals have expanded, stretching the time frame to complete an appraisal up to one or two weeks or even more. Loan underwriters are also requesting more information, photos, and property details for loan approvals. Tight deadlines and appraisers from out of the Denver metro area can result in faulty appraisals.

Knowledgeable and experienced realtors on the Sam Wilson Home Selling Team can arrive at an on-target home market price. Sam’s twenty years of experience in the local real estate market makes him an expert on home market values.

5 Don’t Get Attached—Be Willing to Walk Away From An Overpriced House

If you plan to make a reasonable offer for an overpriced home, be prepared to keep looking if the seller is unwilling to negotiate. This real estate advice applies to all home negotiations, overpriced houses, or houses priced to sell.

If you work with a realtor who has strong real estate negotiation skills, he or she will be able to offer advice about remaining at the negotiating table or moving on.  Just because your first attempt to buy an overpriced home did not succeed, you gain valuable experience that will benefit you as you make your next offer.

Other Strategies for Finding the Home of Your Dreams

While investigating buying overpriced homes is one option for finding the home of your dreams other non-traditional strategies exist. Sam Wilson is an expert at short sales, foreclosures, and stigmatized properties in the Denver metro area.

If you are a home buyer or a real estate investor willing to consider non-traditional options for buying a home and are curious about finding homes for sale, not on the internet, call or text Sam Wilson today at 303-770-1250.

If you are interested in traditional and out of the box strategies for buying a home, including homes you can’t find online, contact Sam Wilson, an expert real estate negotiator, today.

Thinking about Buying or Selling a Home?

Are you thinking about buying a home in Lakewood Colorado, or the Denver Metro Area?  Get expert real estate advice when house hunting for homes for sale in Lakewood CO, Jefferson County, and the Denver metro area. Work with a buyer’s agent on the Sam Wilson Home Selling Team. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home, we make you a priority and share our expertise to make the home buying or selling process as stress-free as possible.

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The Sam Wilson Home Selling Team specializes in homes in Lakewood CO, and Jefferson County Colorado, including Arvada, Aspen Park, Conifer, Edgewater, Evergreen, Genesee, Golden, Idledale, Indian Hills, Ken Caryl, Kittredge, Lakeside, Lakewood, Littleton, Morrison, Mountain View, West Pleasant View, and Wheat Ridge.  

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