Negotiating strategies when selling your home is essential to getting the best offer. Typically, the negotiation starts after a buyer has expressed the desire to buy your property. If you’re making the sale yourself, you’re more likely to talk and come to terms with the potential buyer. Here are some strategies you need to remember when negotiating:
1. Countering The Terms Of The Offer
Potential buyers may suggest other terms to buy your home, such as seller/owner financing. Instead of the buyer making a down payment in cash after receiving a new loan from a financial institution, seller/owner financing makes you the lender.
This term makes you responsible for some part of the financing. You’re providing sufficient credit for the buyer to cover the property’s price minus the down payment. The buyer will sign a promissory note with you and make a regular payment to you instead of the bank.
The terms of the loan are specified in the promissory note. It includes the consequences the buyer might receive if they don’t pay the loan, the repayment schedule, and the interest rate. Since the buyer still owes you, you can hold the title until they can finish paying the loan.
You can use this negotiating strategy if the buyer can’t qualify for a traditional mortgage from a financial institution or bank. However, you can only use this strategy if you don’t have any liens or mortgage on your home and own it outright.
This strategy may be risky, but the best thing about this is that you could stand to make money if you offer a higher interest rate and shorter term for the loan. Thus, you may need to consult an attorney and real estate broker before considering such an offer. Or directly sell your home with safehomeoffer.com if you’re in a rush because you won’t need to try such a risky strategy.
2. Don’t Let Pride Or Emotions Take Over
Selling a home means parting ways with a property where you’ve created memories with your loved ones. It could get you teary, but remember that you’re selling it already. You may love it, but you shouldn’t let emotions control you when negotiating with a potential buyer.
For instance, you may think your home is so great that you don’t want it to go below the price you’ve set. You’d be making a big mistake, especially if the buyer asked to lower the cost after they have made an inspection and discovered termites. A buyer may ask for a USD$2,000 discount from the total price, and you’d better consider it instead of thinking that your home deserves a better price. Although termites may be a pain, a buyer who still wants to purchase the home despite such but is asking for a discount is better than them walking away.
If you don’t accept their offer, you’d need to declare such information to your future buyers. Having such a flaw on your property would lower the price even more. Instead of taking chances, why not consider the offer and not get emotional about the original price?
3. Have An Expiration Date On Your Counteroffer
It’s not illegal to accept a better offer from another buyer. However, it’s unethical if you’re already negotiating with a potential buyer, even if you’ve countered the first buyer’s offer. But you should also remember that you can deal with several buyers simultaneously if you disclose it to potential buyers.
You can frighten a buyer or get higher offers from disclosing such information. If you’re countering more than one offer, you should let all the prospective buyers know of such. It’s also best to have an expiration date on your counteroffers. That way, you can move on to another buyer or get your property under contract since you’re compelling prospective buyers to decide quickly.
The strategy is to shorten the default expiration on your state’s standard, but don’t make it too short since this may turn off buyers. For instance, your state requires three days as the default expiration. You can make the deadline two days. Doing this is vital since your property is off the market when making a counteroffer. So, when a deal falls through, you’re making your house stay in the market longer. You wouldn’t want that since it could make your home stale, especially if you think that now is the time to sell your home.
Conclusion
Selling your home fast is possible when you know how to negotiate correctly. You can ask an agent to sell it for you, but you don’t need to as long as you have negotiating strategies. You can deal with the terms, the price, or the expiration of the counteroffer. Whichever it is, try them so that your property will not stay on the market for too long.