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Neighbor wants to sell his house. I want to buy it.

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lothario

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?I am in California
I share a common wall with my neighbor.
We have been neighbors for 18 years.
He wants to sell his house and move out of state.
It will go on the market in a few weeks.

I would like to buy his house so I get more space for my family.

He has not yet decided an asking price?

How can I convince him to sell the house to me?
And avoid putting it on the market, if possible.

Here are some incentives that I have been thinking about:
1. I can offer to pay the Sellers closing costs.
2. I can offer his Agent to be my Agent too and double the commission. With full disclosure to the Seller, of course.
3. My lender will have a pre-approval ready in 1 week.

What else can I do to convince the Seller to sell his house to me?
 


panzertanker

Senior Member
lothario said:
What is the name of your state?I am in California
I share a common wall with my neighbor.
We have been neighbors for 18 years.
He wants to sell his house and move out of state.
It will go on the market in a few weeks.

I would like to buy his house so I get more space for my family.

He has not yet decided an asking price?

How can I convince him to sell the house to me?
And avoid putting it on the market, if possible.

Here are some incentives that I have been thinking about:
1. I can offer to pay the Sellers closing costs.
2. I can offer his Agent to be my Agent too and double the commission. With full disclosure to the Seller, of course.
3. My lender will have a pre-approval ready in 1 week.

What else can I do to convince the Seller to sell his house to me?
Kiss his behind.....
Pay his moving expenses...
Pack for him...
You are offering enough already.... act too desperate and you won't get it....
 

ktee233

Member
I would think your neighbor would be more than happy to sell to you to avoid paying an agent. He would save the agents fee and all the headaches that come from selling a home. Tell him you are interested. Our real estate agent took 6% which amounted to $23,820.00.
 

lothario

Junior Member
kt233,

You are 100% correct. Last year, I told the neighbor that I am interested
in case he wants to sell his house. At that point, he showed no interest.
He is aware of his agent's commission.

---- A bit of history -------------------------------------------------
Apparently, this agent has helped the neighbor's son sell another property.
In that case, the agent advised the son to invest about $10,000 to spruce
up that property and they made a profit on that sale.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the moment, the neighbor is preoccupied with his out of state matters.
He has let the agent determine the best course of action.
The agent has visited the property (next door) and has advised my neighbor
to invest some money in the property and go for the best offer.

Which brings me back to my original question.
How can I convince him to sell the house to me?
I will keep an eye on the best offer but what else?
 

John Se

Member
Make you best offer

Make your best offer, get a sale contract, write up your offer and present it. If its sweet enough you will at least get to the negotiating table. that way he will have something to work with if he decides to put it on the market. what matters is how much cash he will wind up with or how little hassle you will give him.
 

Warped

Member
Why bother with an agent at all? He wants to sell, you want to buy. If he names a price you are willing to pay, then get an inspection/appraisal done then go visit a real estate attorney and let them do all of the paperwork, title filing, title research and that sort of thing. Start looking for a mortgage company. Save yourself and your neighbor the RE agent's commissions. :p
 

Rhondee

Junior Member
To Neighor

Tell your neighbor NOT to sign a contract with an agent and yo will pay for a real estate lawyer of his( or her) choosing to handle the agreement and closing, thus he/she will come out with anywhere between 5-7% more cash by saving the commission otherwise paid to the agent. It would be too hard to pass up! ( you could also throw in no buyer contingincies)
 

lothario

Junior Member
I really appreciate all the advice that I have received.

I have tried in the past to explain all these reasons to the Seller.
But, he is out of state and has left the decision in the hands of
his agent. It is very clear that (for whatever reason) he does
not mind paying the agent’s commission.
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
lothario said:
I really appreciate all the advice that I have received.

I have tried in the past to explain all these reasons to the Seller.
But, he is out of state and has left the decision in the hands of
his agent. It is very clear that (for whatever reason) he does
not mind paying the agent’s commission.

**A: that's because his agent is most likely providing value for services.
 

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