Go ahead and keep offering. Is that what you wanted to hear? It can't hurt to keep beating your head against the same brick wall so don't worry about how it might be hurting the owner. Is this the same property you started talking about or a new one? After all that has been said about shopping around, you seem to be looking for reasons not to listen to what people are saying. But it's a good thread anyway.
Thanks for even more advice...! The home I am focused on is on Neptuno..and have gone thru the house and seen everything. I guess maybe I can start thinking like a Mexican...but giving it more thought.....NO! I will be polite and ask what offer, less than 1.5 million...would the owner accept (she...not a he!) and living there alone when she wants to move next to her daughter's home.. who moved out when she got married 2-3 years ago...
HAHAHA. I understand. I have been there too. When I decide I want something I don't listen to anyone else´s advise either about ""fish in the sea" and other such tritisms.
I'll add.. if SHE comes back with "how much can you afford?" you'll need to have a number ready INCLUDING all taxes and fees... so for example you could say 1.3 -1.35 INCLUDING taxes/fees, but stand by it... and there are of' course "other fish in the sea" as has been pointed out. If your heart is really set on it, just pay the asking price and be done with it... rather than stress about it, just make triple sure everything is in order before handing over any money. Might be a good idea to make sure nothing else in the area has popped up since you last looked as well....
Is this house the one to the left of the pool if you face it? If so, I've been through that house, it was on the market three years ago for 1.5 million and had a woman owner. It also had no sewer traps in any of the bathrooms so the owner was hesitant to let us look at the bathrooms lest we take a breath of sewer gas while in there. I told her that some $50 peso sewer traps might help make her house worth closer to what she was asking for it. People are amazing. One thing that I don't think has been mentioned in this thread is that any deal you do should be contingent on the satisfactory result of an inspection. This is not standard practice here and will not be in your purchase agreement unless you insist on it. But do insist on it. You don't want to find out that the roof leaks after you buy the place. And be sure to have the foundation checked carefully, lots of houses here (esp those built in series) were built over cenotes, one near us has tilted about 10 degrees off level (and is getting more tilted as time goes by) because it is falling into the cenote under it. If the owner was insulted by your offer then she will likely be insulted by any other offer that is not 1.5. My advice is to either overpay for the house and know that you will have a b*tch of a time ever getting your money out of it. Or tell her that you only have 1.1 to spend and are very happy to keep looking for someone who wants to take it from you. Do realize that this owner has already set the stage for how the whole deal will go. If she's this inflexible now she will be inflexible all the way through the whole deal, and that won't be pleasant. To reiterate, this is a buyer's market. This means that you are doing any seller a favor by buying their house (wanna buy mine?). There is only one reason for you to overpay for a house and that is because you want to. If you look around this town you will find many better deals than that house.
A friend of mine had a house inspected while applying for a loan that he was going to put the house against.... he HAD to pay the company that the bank wanted something like 20,000 pesos for the "inspection"... the result was a ten page report that a kindergarten student could have done better on. It was FILLED with inaccuracies, over sites, and just plan weirdness. They checked everything as "standard/average" in a house that has more than $50,000USD worth of one-of-a-kind woodwork, slate and marble throughout, two giant enclosed Jacuzzis, built to American code and finished well above "average"...top to bottom! They didn't even get the construction square meters or lot size correct or notice that it was wired for 220! The "area study" was easily 10 years out of date and was obviously prepared years ago based on declared tax values. We couldn't believe how horrible it was! and this was the company the the bank used for all of their loans! (Banamex or Bancomer, don't recall which) I don't have the name of that "inspection" company on hand, but if they are any gage of the rest of them around here, stay away! unless you have to.. its also very unlikely that the owner would offer to repair or discount for anything..... PS: That "average" house can been seen here.... www.VillasPuertoMorelos.com
Just because one home inspection company sucks it doesn't mean it's not worth doing the inspection. Even just hiring a guy with an engineering degree to crawl all over the house with you would give you needed information. The point of an inspection is to get the buyer to look at the house objectively, to actually notice cracks and whether electrical circuits work and how the water pressure is. It's not about the report, though a good inspection report is very valuable. It's about climbing onto the roof with an expert and the hose and watching how the water flows off the roof when you flood it. It's about learning about your investment before you make it. And it's just plain stupid not to do it.
I agree, better to just grab someone who knows about construction and take them along... just wanted to warn against putting too much faith in the companies that "specialize" in inspections.... to check for the cenote issue you mentioned you'd have to find someone with a ground penetrating radar to survey the area though....
RG......!!! You people on the forum neve cease to amaze me with you knowledge...!! YES....!! it is one and the same...house..!! My friends live at 122B Neptuno and this is just 2-3 doors to the left of their home...!! I thought that none of the homes there have a sewer trap in the shower drains and that this is normal "plumbing code" in Mexico....!! If there is such a thing! I have stayed at my friends' home for years and always wondered why they had A FLAT RUBBER STOPPER over the shower drains......(????) So, one morning, after showering, I did not replace the drain cover...and 2-3 hours later..the house started smelling of sewage...!!! And was then told the reason for the drain covers.. The advice regarding having the house inspected prior to any $$ changing hands..is well taken..and would do the same here in the States. All the "ducks will be in a row" before proceeding.... BUT sometimes one's thinking is like the bull...in the arena......all he can concentrate on is that red cape......!!!!
And those houses are, what?, 2 blocks from Home Depot? It will take all of an hour and a $50 peso sewer trap to fix that smell (if it's only coming from the shower). I'm not sure why people don't fix this, I'm not a plumbing expert and am not particularly handy, but I could fix this. Perhaps, there's some kind of tradition here and people love that smell? Well, now you know that this house has been on the market a long time. That will tell you something. The owner is very rigid if she hasn't brought the price down at all. Please, at least look at all the other houses for sale in that area before you settle on overpaying for the one with the stinky bathrooms. It can't hurt to get more perspective.
