No matter how carefully you research the market and how fairly you price your home, there's a decent chance you'll get at least one offer that is well below the market value of your home. While many people get upset or angry by these offers, the proper way to handle them is unemotionally. Simply send a polite refusal to the buyer. If the buyer cannot or will not come up to your price level you've lost nothing. If he or she is simply fishing to see how low you will go you haven't lost any negotiating ground at all. Whatever you do, don't take it personally. Selling your home and moving is stressful enough - don't drive yourself crazy over a bottom fisher trying to get a deal.tic |
“Real Estate Service Times...Two”
Find
a Buyer
Pricing is only
one factor to consider when reviewing an offer on your home. It's important
to review the entire offer - with all of its terms and conditions -
when making a decision.
Evaluating
Offers
Consider these areas when evalutaing any offers you receive from interested
purchasers.
Price
Obviously, price is a major consideration. How close is the offer
to your asking price? Is the market strong - do you have a good chance
of getting more if you wait?
Contingencies
Virtually all home purchase contracts have some contingencies -
and many of these are extremely reasonable. But it's important to consider
the potential of these conditions to affect or terminate the transaction.
It may be advisable to accept a lower price with few contingencies over
a higher figure with a large list of conditions.
Prequalified Buyers
Buyers who are pre-approved for mortgage financing are among the
strongest purchasers. Not only do these buyers already have funding
in place - they are also typically among the most credit-worthy buyers.
Beware the Home Sale Contingency
Offers are sometimes conditioned upon the sale of the buyer's current
home prior to the closing. This is an extremely onerous condition. You
simply trade the risk of selling one home for that of selling a different
one - and you have far less control over the marketing of the buyer's
house.
Seller
Financing
Some offers
are contingent upon the seller taking back financing. The exact terms
can vary considerably, however it is usually not advisable to accept
this type of deal unless there are no alternatives. Apart from the fact
that most sellers want to cash out in order to buy a new home, holding
a mortgage can be risky, involving costly legal enforcement actions
if the borrower defaults. With the number of mortgage programs available
from lenders, a buyer who demands financing from the seller is probably
a high-risk borrower.
What
Does the Buyer Want You to Do?
Few homes are in perfect condition, yet a buyer may expect to receive
yours in pristine form. A purchaser who expects to buy a 50-year-old
house in flawless condition is unrealistic - and could turn out to be
a difficult buyer. While you should expect to repair any
major problems, beware of a purchaser who seems excessive in his
or her demands.
Handling
Multiple Offers
If you are fortunate enough to receive multiple offers, make sure to
review each one carefully. If one party is significantly stronger than
the other(s), or one offer has fewer conditions you may want to try
work with that buyer first. After reviewing the terms of the offers
- and discussing them with your agent - you can submit a counter-offer
to all of the parties.
Counter-Offers
and Negotiation
Negotiation is very common in the real estate markets. When you receive
an offer for less than the asking price you have three choices - accept
it, reject it out of hand, or make a counter-offer.
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