I received an offer on my condo which I have listed. The contract was missing some info so I am waiting for it to be corrected & sent again. They were asking for $10k for closing costs which I am going to counter offer to $5k. They are working w/a realty company which also does the financing (all in one). Will they be able to work w/the numbers for closing costs & make it happen? My asking price is $229K they offered $225k but the $10k closing will kill me. This is my first deal!
Thanks.

If your not represented by an agent, about anything can happen including getting a big surprise at the closing table.

It looks like you have a professional group supporting an informed buyer and you have elected to go it alone for some odd reason, probably the mis conception that you will "save" money which you will probably find is a false hope.

If they are doing conventional financing, the maximum closing costs allowed is 3%.

What are the other contigencies in the contract? Example home inspection repairs will cost you, termite who is going to pay for inspection etc.

Also have you considered the closing cost seller's have to pay when doing the math for final numbers?

Good Luck

My best advice is not to get it from this board. It's best that a realtor/ or a realtor "friend" that knows what you are dealing with (in your area) help you through this contract. Take it for what it's worth.

Good luck and congrats!

Thanks, as far as inspections AS IS w/right to inspect, it's a small condo in great condition. I counter offered 3% towards closing $6750. The agent called me right back says she spoke to them & they say they have no money at all for closing. They are doing a 100% loan which they are dividing into 2 loans, my friend that is a mortgage broker explained how it works. In the contract it sounds as if they are doing the 80% finance but it's not so, 80% on one loan the rest on the other loan (you guys might know this). Anyhow, my friend told me they can lower the closing costs since they are doing the financing for the buyers. I have to call them again and I will see if the agent wants to put some money in also to make it happen. We will see but the 3% stands firm. It's been on the market for three weeks and it's a desirable area. There are 2 others like mine for sale just 2yrs older and I am paying the most commission 3% vs 2%.

If I were the agent representing those buyers, I would probably suggest that they keep looking at other condo's because this particular seller doesn't seem to want to sell enough to make the deal happen. There are too many other options to get hung up on one particular condo (unless the buyers absolutely fell in love with it...and even then...they'd still have to come up with a way to pay the rest of the closing costs (it wouldn't be me paying, that's for sure)). I would suggest to you, mr. seller, that in this market you got lucky and found an ass for your seat much faster than most. If you let it go, you may not get another ass in the near future. But then again, you might.

If I were you, I probably wouldn't let the deal fall apart over less than $3,250 worth of negotiation. (10K minus the 6750 you already agreed to minus whatever the mortgage broker friend of yours said he could help out with). But there could be other factors that only you are aware of that could also influence that.

Best of luck to you.

Josh

First and foremost, you need an agent and are at a serious disadvantage without one in regards to your responsibilities to a buyer as a seller (I know that you saw that comment coming). Secondly, you really need to consider what your net proceeds are (the dollar amount that you take with you after closing costs, inspections, appraisals, commissions, title fees, transfer taxes, capital gains taxes, etc.) after everything is paid. As another agent commented, don't lose a deal because of $3250. You could end up paying that mortgage payment for a couple more months, which will end up eating up what you hoped to gain by your counter-offer (and you may still end up giving the next buyer the same $ in closing costs anyway). To my knowledge, most conventional loan products limit seller concessions towards closing costs to 3% (was the initial $10,000 towards non-recurring andrecurring closing costs?). If that is the case, that is fine, you really don't have to counter-offer anyway, they will be limited to $6750 anyway and may not know it. If not, who cares, it is $3k, which in the bigger picture, isn't a lot of money.

Feel Blessed that you someone got a buyer at almost 94%+ of your list price (($225,000-$10,000)/$229,000). I wouldn't think that you would want to lose this one; sometimes a gauranteed $10 today is better than a possible $12 tomorrow...

I would try to work it out if I were the seller. My question would be if he's not allowed to contribute more than 3% towards buyer's closing costs, then how can he still keep the buyer? I believe there are clauses that will allow the seller to contribute more than 3%, but I am not sure.

Its not the seller's issue, it is the issue of the buyer's Mortgage broker that procured the lender. The lender may (and usually do) have a cap on the seller's contribution. At that point, the seller was fulfilled is obligation by paying the max amount allowed, up to $10,000. If the closing costs can not be covered by the buyer at that point (which, unless they have a greedy loan officer) shouldn't exceed 3% at signing anyway. The Earnest Money deposit would be refunded to the seller (or distributed according to your contract)

I know it's not the seller's issue, but if you were the seller, I would think you would want to try and keep this deal from falling apart. Sounds like it will probably not work out, unless the buyer was to find a private investor to fund on a portion of the loan, right?