Negotiating Offers
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You have been busily maintaining and showing your home and the day arrives when you get a call from your Realtor® that he has received an offer. Now is the most important part of any home sale. It is a critical time to remain calm and be thoughtful about every step.
Keep your emotions in check. This is a business deal. Negotiating takes a clear and focused head to achieve a sale, so your plans that require this sale can advance. Concentrate on the facts of the sale and put memories and enjoyment of your home on hold. One study titled Emotions in Real Estate Negotiations has this to say this: “For most clients, a home is the most valuable asset that they will ever own. One agent stated that “this is really the biggest purchase they make [so] there’s such a huge tie-in with money and stress. So it’s mostly just stress anger that comes out during this process… It just becomes this clash of personalities… so it’s all this third-degree anger.” If you keep your emotions in check, let your realtor help you come out with a good deal.
Do not dismiss any offer without consideration. Insulting lowball offers happen. Concentrate on a reasonable counteroffer rather than fixate on the initial offer. You have someone who is interested in your property. Interested enough to submit an offer and an earnest money check. Don’t throw away all the hard work of finding an interested buyer by refusing to try to find a mutually agreeable contract.
Consider non-monetary counteroffers. Closing dates that are helpful to the buyer and including items in the sale that were excluded in the original listing are two negotiating tactics that often indicate a willingness to compromise and prompt a similar reaction from the buyer.
Let your Realtor® do his job. Your Realtor® is a trained professional working for you. He knows the market and the good, the bad, and the ugly of real estate transactions. Heed his advice and let him use his experience and education to bring your property sale to a successful closing.