Comment by loeg
5 days ago
> I was APPALLED that they wanted me to fill out an APPLICATION form, where they would decide my worth, and let me know if we would be allowed to live there. When buying a house, my cash was as good as anyone elses'.
House sellers receive offers from buyers, sometimes including letters, and can choose to sell to any of them (or none of them), whether or not those offers are higher than the listed price. It's not so different.
> And then the management company would come inside my house to inspect that I wasn't running a meth lab or something.
Yeah that part is different. I also prefer owning.
Why would a house seller accept any offer that not the highest total price?
A seller might prefer a cash offer to an offer contingent on the buyer securing credit (credit might fall through). Or, like landlords, a seller might prefer a buyer with a higher credit score (same reason -- buyer is more likely to be able to secure credit and close the deal). A seller might prefer a slightly lower total offer with a serious amount of "earnest money" over a slightly higher total offer without significant earnest money (buyer might try to back out). A seller might prefer to sell to a family with a nice story in their buyer's letter than someone buying a 2nd or 3rd house. Or the seller may think all offers are too low and they can hold out and get a better offer later.