A Friend or Neighbor Wants to Buy Your House? by Jeff & Steve
I came across Jeff Stricker’s note about neighbors or friends expressing interest in buying the neighbor’s or friend’s house but actually looking for bargains.
Jeff and Steve are very successful Los Altos Real estate agents. I had the pleasure of working with them when I represented a buyer who bought their listing at Los Altos.
I agree with what Jeff wrote. I was also in situations where a neighbor or a friend said they were very interested and even asked to write an offer. They were never ready to write a high enough offer to actually get the property.
Almost every time we are hired to sell a home, a friend or neighbor of the seller indicates they would like to buy it or that they know someone who does. Sometimes these friends and neighbors have good intentions, and sometimes not. It is impossible to know what market value is to determine a fair sales price until the home is actually marketed.
We strongly suggest that owners have all interested parties submit their offer on a specific day after the home is fully marketed. The home can then be sold to any party the seller chooses, at fair market value.
FYI, we have never in over 20 years of selling homes had one of these “interested” parties submit an offer, confirming that they were only interested in getting the home at a bargain price. It is amazing how successful these bargain-hunting buyers are at enlisting well meaning neighbors to find unsuspecting sellers for them. We wonder how many sellers have fallen for this ploy.
Jeff Stricker