My wife and I have found a place that we want to make an offer on. The seller obviously has an agent , but we just stumbled on the place through an NYTimes listing and we don't have an agent. (We weren't really planning to buy now, but this seemed like it could be a good deal. We've checked it out a couple of times and, as it is an older building, had an inspection done.) Now we want to make an... [more]
My wife and I have found a place that we want to make an offer on. The seller obviously has an agent , but we just stumbled on the place through an NYTimes listing and we don't have an agent. (We weren't really planning to buy now, but this seemed like it could be a good deal. We've checked it out a couple of times and, as it is an older building, had an inspection done.) Now we want to make an offer. My question is, should we get an agent just for the offer/negotiation process? Does that add value, or should I just call up the seller's agent and say, "OK, We'll pay X." and see what happens from there?
A related question -- the place is listed for about $150k more than its Zillow estimate. Does anyone have any experience with these estimates? Are they roughly accurate? (Most of the adjacent units are estimated by Zillow to be in the 650-750 range and the seller is listing for 900.)
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Response by semerun
almost 16 years ago
Posts: 571
Member since: Feb 2008
Zillow is grossly inaccurate for NYC. At the peak of the market my apartment was listed at 30-40% above what I believed it was worth when looking at comparable units on the market.
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Response by mimi
almost 16 years ago
Posts: 1134
Member since: Sep 2008
The estimate zillow gave me for a comparable house in Harlem was 2,5 m for a house that was listed at 1.4....
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Response by gcondo
almost 16 years ago
Posts: 1111
Member since: Feb 2009
zillow is grossly inaccurate... period...
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Response by bkapt
almost 16 years ago
Posts: 12
Member since: Jan 2010
Make sure your agent doesn't keep telling you "this is already a very good deal, i think you should accept it.", or "generally you get 1~3% of room to negotiate the price". I have met many agents like that in NYC/NJ area. They won't help you get a big disscount because lower price means lower commision. They are desperate to say anything to get deals done, especially in these tough days.
Zillow is grossly inaccurate for NYC. At the peak of the market my apartment was listed at 30-40% above what I believed it was worth when looking at comparable units on the market.
The estimate zillow gave me for a comparable house in Harlem was 2,5 m for a house that was listed at 1.4....
zillow is grossly inaccurate... period...
Make sure your agent doesn't keep telling you "this is already a very good deal, i think you should accept it.", or "generally you get 1~3% of room to negotiate the price". I have met many agents like that in NYC/NJ area. They won't help you get a big disscount because lower price means lower commision. They are desperate to say anything to get deals done, especially in these tough days.