mugenpower_s2k

The unit has been pretty much upgraded (granite counter top, brand new oven stove, full size microwave, dish washer, refrigerator, front load washer/dryer). Anything else I should ask for upgrade?

I talked to the owner of the building over the phone, he said he's willing to take $5k off. I didn't' really negotiate with him yet, but is there any more room for me to pull it down a bit more? My goal is to take down at least another $5k for the unit plus the indoor parking, so it will be $220k all together.

BTW, the building was completed in Feb, so this unit is being on the market for almost 10 months. I researched the similar units (w/parking spot) in this area, average listed price is about $205 to $215.

PearlwhiteS2k

You can always offer them 10k less in total and see if they are willing to sell or not. Also you can offer them 5k less plus addition 5k in upgrades in the house. Don't cheap out on the parking spot either.

Incubus

Thanks for that. I was waiting for someone to chime in, because I hate to do it.

jerrypeterson

New homes are typically priced at a 10-15% premium to comparable resale homes. Buyers are willing to pay more for brand new from an emotional standpoint. Once somebody moves into the home, its like driving a car off the dealer lot. I recommend keeping this in mind. Used is King Money unless there is no available inventory locally.

Malloric

This depends. New house prices are generally much more volatile than prices in established neighborhoods. We've pretty much flipped and 5-15 yr old houses are now more expensive. Mostly a supply and demand thing. There's a tremendous glut of new houses on the market. Also the quality of construction on new homes here (Sacramento & Central Valley) is so poor I think it's beginning to come back as buyers don't have much confidence in new construction. I'm not talking minor things either... one neighborhood where we were looking at houses they'd installed every single window with the flashing in backwards and many also had problems with leaking roofs. Plus, buying a house where 25% of the lots are vacant with over grown lawns and boarded up windows isn't most peoples cup of tea. Abnormal situation of course.


As Cthree said ability to negotiate on condos is limited as prices are generally set far in advance. One area you could look is waived HOA fees. Some of these condos have utterly insane HOA fees. Negotiate down on the upgrade price (those always have insane mark up built into them anyway) and/or HOA. Actually, I'd just refuse to buy a condo with $200-300/mo HOA on principle... but if you can stomache that kind of highway robbery it's a way to save a couple grand.

jerrypeterson

You are correct that what you are witnessing is an unusual situation but the new home premium is real. The price depression you are witnessing is two-fold. One, the unit pricing was almost certainly established with the ranges I disclosed and has adjusted with the changing market conditions. Private sellers have relatively little experience with pricing homes for sale and often resist (for any number of reasons) falling market prices. Two, new contruction that doesn't sell quickly can have incredible pressures to move the inventory. I admit I'm oversimplifying the financing angle, but builders typically suffer egregious losses on homes which stay on the market. Most developments are heavily leveraged and financed at rates which are 3-12% higher than homeowners enjoy.

Even without using the back of an envelope I'm sure you can understand how Joe Blow will lose far less money keeping his home on the market for an extended period than ABC Builders.

In most states HOA dues are not negotiable. It is illegal to special case homeowners in any state I'm familiar with, including California. The Body must ammend to make any changes to the dues. While I cannot comment on what an individual's dues without itemizing a properties communal expenses, $200-300 seems reasonable for water/sewer/trash, insurance/upkeep for common areas, and contingency for capital repairs for a gated townhome or actively guarded condomium property.

The places with lower dues are the idiot traps that hit the homeowners with assessments every few years to the tune of $5,000 - 30,000 per unit. Seen that played out so many times.

mugenpower_s2k

After two and half hours sitting down and bargaining with the owner of the condo building. He agreed on a selling price of $214k for a 840sf (1 bed+Den) + indoor parking spot + storage locker. That is $18k down from the listed price they asking for.
I personally think it's a bargain, now I'm getting really close to pull the trigger. Any other suggestions or things I should be careful before I do it?

lOOkatme

If its your residence....just make sure everything makes sense....you can afford it....and its something you want.


If you aren't sure.....its better to sleep on it some more.

sahtt

Don't buy it just because it's a bargain, there are a lot of bargains now and there will be many more in the future. If you are buying it because it's priced fairly and it's what you want and you can afford it, go for it.

mugenpower_s2k

Thank you all so much for all the great information!