More on the Personal Property Offer

Before I got home to strategize our next move with my wife, my RE agent sent me an email stating what the sellers had said. To reiterate, their original offer was $249,900 with no strings attached. We submitted an initial offer of $205,000, again with no strings attached. The seller didn't really reject our offer in the true sense, but countered - and, get this - with not only their same price BUT with a contingency that we close in March AND that we use their financing company. WTH?!?! They are going the other way in this negotiation. First they want 'x' and now they want 'x and y and z'???

I went home and talked over all the details with my wife. We came to the conclusion that this deal will not pan out - at least, not to our liking. I told her we could make one last effort to get the property, but it will cost the seller dearly. I then came up with the following offer and submitted it to my RE agent:

We agree to close in March and use your company to finance the deal. However, in agreeing to your concessions, our new offer is contingent on the following:

1. Clean title.
2. A purchase price of $220,000
3. A signed purchase agreement for our current property.
4. Seller to pay any and all repairs or reimburse buyer for repairs at closing.

If they want to play hardball, we will too. The more I analyze this situation, the more I believe the 'sellers' are a group of investors trying to nickel-n-dime the situation to their advantage. I'm not going to play that game.

I received a reply from my RE agent this morning saying she would make the offer, but she's pretty sure my 3rd contingency wouldn't fly at all, no matter what my offer price. But, she said, she would submit the whole offer anyway to see what happens. To be honest, my feelings for this property are going downhill with each passing minute. It's a nice home, but the seller is sure making it a negative process all around.