How to Negotiate with Buyers

Today’s sellers face a challenging market. Sellers are seeing offers that are filled with conditions, all of which have to be negotiated. Negotiation is a complex matter and all transactions are unique. A skillful negotiator can make the difference between maximizing your profits or losing money on the house sale. If you are in the market to sell your home, you need to do what you can at the beginning to minimize the need for negotiations. Houston realtor Bill Edge recommends these tips.

Know You Bottom Line

Every seller has a rock bottom price that must be gotten for the home. It’s important to know what yours is. Then, work out some scenarios with your Houston real estate agent to determine what types of offers you will accept. Remember that the offer with the best price may not actually be the best offer depending on the conditions.

Avoid Surprises by Doing Your Homework

Surprises when selling a home are almost always costly. Avoid these by doing your homework ahead of time.

First, take a good, hard look around your home. Take care of any repairs you have been putting off, keeping receipts and warranties for interested buyers. Then, have your home professionally inspected to locate any hidden repairs or violations of Houston building codes.

Finally, research potential closing costs. Your agent will help you work out the closing costs so you can see just how much wiggle room you have when negotiating an offer.

Preparing the Home

In addition to repairs, you can make decorative improvements in your home to get the best possible offer. De-cluttering, taking out personal touches, re-painting and carefully cleaning the home to give it that “model home” appearance will all improve your chances to get a high offer. Pay attention to curb appeal as well. You will get the most for your home if it’s attractive to someone performing a drive by.

When the Offers Start to Come

If you’re working with a tech savvy agent and have staged your home well, you will find offers coming in quickly, but that doesn’t mean you should jump on the first offer to come your way. The first thing to do is have your agent contact the buyer’s agent to learn all you can about the buyer and how motivated they are to purchase your home. This will help you know what to do in your negotiations.

You can expect the offer to be lower than your asking price. If it’s close to your bare minimum, don’t be too hasty to accept. This could create a demanding buyer when the home is up for inspection. Also, make sure you study the offer carefully if it’s close to your asking price. It could contain contingencies that are increasing the price, such as asking for repairs or for the seller to pay all closing costs.

Throughout the negotiations, keep things civil. Someone could submit a very low offer because they are looking to get a deal. We’ve been hearing for so long how the market favors buyers right now, why shouldn’t they try? You could alienate a serious buyer by being too harsh. If the offer is low, consider strategies you could implement to get that offer closer to your acceptable level, while keeping the buyers’ needs and desires in mind.

Negotiations are tricky business, and that’s why you need the help of a Houston real estate professional. I will help you with the negotiation process, so you can end up with a home that sells quickly and for a fair price. Contact Houston realtor Bill Edge today to get started on the home selling process.