Be a successful Seller when you get an offer on your Summit County home
In our Summit County Buyer’s market, Buyers offer considerably less money than Sellers expect, and many Sellers get frustrated and insulted when they see the offer. It is often difficult to negotiate an agreement, but agreement is the goal of both Buyer and Seller, and it is important to keep it in mind.
Today, I suggest to Sellers that if they truly want to sell their properties, that they be open minded, creative and calm. Keeping emotion out of the negotiation is a difficult but important thing to do.
Seriously considering an offer that is $585,000 when you are asking $650,000 might be hard to do, but 90% of list price is not unusual these days. I have seen offers for even less. Many people assume that the Buyer wants to meet in the middle; in this case, to pay around $617,500. However, the Buyer often wants to be much closer to their offering price than that. Perhaps they have $598,000 in mind. The initial offer is a way of finding out the Seller’s motivation. If the Seller comes back with a counterproposal of $640,000, many Buyers assume that the Seller is not coming off his or her price much, and that is often the case. The Buyer then has to decide what is more important; buying the home that they really like, or getting a deal. They may have to go on to another home if they can’t get the deal they want. Sellers have to realize that in this market, this offer may be the best one they get, and working it up as much as possible has to be attempted. However, many times Buyers won’t even bother to respond to the counterproposal, but will move on to the next one on the list.
The Seller has to either find a way to get the amount of money he or she wants, or figure out how they can live with less money than planned. Purchase price is not the only point open to negotiation. Second home sales often include furniture, but selling furniture separately to get more money may not work out. Most Buyers prefer it be included in the price, and selling it to someone else is not easy for the Seller if they don’t live here full time. Used furniture doesn’t sell for much, and it adds very little to the total price.
The closing date can be another negotiation point. The later the closing date is, the more it costs the Seller. There are probably HOA dues, taxes, insurance and mortgage payments to make. Also, the longer the time frame between accepting an offer and closing, the more things can go wrong. It could be cold feet on the part of the Buyer, a job loss, health issues, flood or fire. A shorter timeframe is better and cash buyers are very aware of that. A cash buyer can often close within two weeks, while loans today can take as much as six weeks for approval. It is not unusual to have lender’s rules change at the last minute, causing the Buyer to have to start over with a new lender. Sometimes they give up. Cash is a sure thing, and those Buyers are in a better negotiation position for that reason.
One thing that I often see lacking is Seller’s knowledge of the market. Buyers are always aware of market conditions, but Sellers tend to be in denial in a down market. Their house is better than the others and therefore, worth more. Statistics must be looked at by both parties or the Buyer will have an edge over the Seller. Following the market down leads to time on the market, and time on the market gives the Buyer the advantage.
So how do we get this Buyer and Seller together? Sometimes we can’t. A Buyer Agent’s job is to work on behalf of the Buyer, looking out for their best interests. The price paid must be market price or below in order for him/her to have done a good job. A Seller’s Agent has the responsibility of representing the Sellers and getting them as much of what they want as possible. Buyers make offers in the hope that they are hitting on a desperate Seller. When they discover one isn’t, they move on. But if the Buyer wants that particular property, and the Seller wants to sell it, we can generally get together. The old real estate rule is “Everything is Negotiable,” so get creative, look at dates, inclusions and exclusions, and remove as many contingencies as possible. It can, and often does, work out with all parties being happy when they meet at the closing table.
