Just tell her that you cannot afford anything more than 300k and you don’t want to insult her with an offer that low, she can’t take offense to that. The other posters are correct in their assumption that she probably can’t sell it for that because she owes more, has cash flow troubles and will be letting some of her rentals go back to the banks. If she is in the new home industry she is losing money on her rentals and isn’t making much at work to cover it, she acts loaded because she used to be. You can also ask her if you can stay after the lease runs out until it sells. Ask for a 40% reduction in rent and agree to hire a cleaning lady to keep it nice for showings. Since you won’t have the comfort of a lease and you will have to deal with showings it isn’t worth full rent. She will want you to pay full price but that isn’t fair to you and her cost to have it empty will be astronomical and won’t be able to get a new renter, so you are her only chance at any cash flow. I’ve noticed some crazy bargains in rental houses because they are also for sale.
i’ve thought of making my lowball offer…then if/when it is rejected, suggesting I stay on as a tenant until it sells – for LESS rent – but only if that’s what the landlord will want.
landlord may want to show it empty…but personally, I’ve always believed a house shows better furnished….unless it’s furnished/decorated very badly…. i think the house looks better with our stuff vs. empty… but i’m also not thrilled about people coming to show the house with my family home…we went through that when we sold our last home.. major PITA… i loved how realtors would ignore the please call two hours ahead or whatever your requested and would say, “we’re here in your driveway, can I show the house”…as you are eating breakfast in your pajamas or something…. jerks…
we like the house we are renting – but it’s not the “perfect” hosue. it is 1900 sq ft, and with three kids, we really would rather have asomething a tiny bit larger iwth a 4th bedroom…. the hosue is very nice, and we like the area/location… we just would like more space. for the right price, howeve3r, we’d take it…it woud only be perfect if it ws for a steal of aprice. and in this market, they would have to sell it dirt cheap so we would be protected against the future price drops.
my guess is we will continue to rent for another year, and think more seriously about buying at the end of 07, early 08..depending no how the market is going.
Take a look at your lease. As a tenant you have alot of rights and you may have an argument that she CANNOT show your home to potential suitors while you are still in there. Don’t be afraid to play a little hard ball with her.
Just for some perspective, prior to this upleg you could buy houses in these size ranges in that area for less than $170,000. Compared to SD County or OC County, this area will take the bigger hit. I don’t think it’s beyond the realm of possibility that the neighborhood you’re in could settle in at $225,000 by the time its all over.
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