So you got an offer now what do you do? Our goal is to get you the most money possible. The most any buyer is willing to pay. So let's talk about some scenarios and what to do. Then we will talk about parts of the offer. What you do depends on where you are in the process. Is it the first day on the market, first week, or have you been on the market for months and this is your first offer. You may have multiple offers. Maybe you have gotten two, three, or four offers all around the same price and now you have another one. Below are just some general observations on what to do and how to negotiate.
First offer in months
I am going to talk about your home being on the market for months and this is your first offer. If this is your first offer after months then you need to try to work it out and get it signed. There is one or more reasons why your home is not selling. It may be way over priced, in below average condition, it may have a bad layout, or the location of the home may be bad (may have a cell tower, business, busy road, or electric lines nearby). If you have a fish on the line you need to real them in and get the deal closed. Do what you have to get your home sold. Your home is going to get low ball offers when it has sat on the market for months. It will get worse not better the longer it sits. You are not sitting in the best bargaining position if you are not getting an offer. Now is not the time to turn up your nose at any offer. So look at the offer and try to negotiate it out.
Two, three, or four offers all around the same price
Now you have another offer still around the same price and all the offers have come from different buyers. It's time to wake up and realize that your home is probably only worth about the price of the offers you have gotten. It's not magic that everybody is offering you the same price. Sure you may be asking a lot more, but the market is telling you that your home is worth this much. If you really want to sell then you should try to negotiate a little higher price, and close the deal. Again after a long time on the market you are going to start getting low ball lower offers. It's in your best interest to negotiate.
First day or first week
Well what do you do when it is a hot market and you get an offer in the first day or first week? The key is how many other showings do you have or are requested? You sometimes want to slow the process down and take a day to respond to the offer. You may get another offer in during your thinking period. At this point your agent should be emailing and calling everybody that has seen the house and let them know you have an offer. Your agent should be telling the other agents that if their buyer is interested in the home they need to get an offer in by a certain dead line. What you do not want to do is say you are going to wait a week to respond. The buyer may walk. Keep the buyer in hand and try to slow down the answer. But you can't wait three days.
When it comes to selling a house, there are two old adages:
If you have a chance to get multiple offers and still be able to decide before the buyers offer expiration date then explore the possibilities of a better offer. If is a great offer do not be greedy, it may be wise to accept it and run. Especially if all the terms are good. If it is just an OK offer it doesn’t mean there isn’t room to negotiate. You should seriously always, always consider the first offer you receive, even if it’s a little lower than you hoped. Sometimes when sellers turn down the first offer and then the house sits it hurts you. You may never get a full priced offer. Remember, every day that your home remains on the market, it loses a little bit of its newness. If you reject your first offer you could find yourself hoping to get the first buyer back when no one else has stepped up.
Multiple offers
These sometimes are the best situation you can hope for. A bidding war on your home? That’s the dream of any seller. Now it gets down to terms. It can be confusing and stressful to have a multiple offer situation. Have your realtor layout all the options and then explain which one offer they think is the best. Ask questions. There is no one best rule to chose as you may have several terms that you need.
I am going to talk about home selling contingency a little more. It says the buyer will purchase your home if and when they sell their existing home. Sometimes, in slow markets or when you have not gotten an offer, you may end up accepting this contingency. The key is this is to put in the contract that you can still market your home and if you get another offer the first buyer has to move forward or cancel the first purchase agreement. Usually you give the first buyer 24 hours to make this decision, so you do not lose the second buyer. You also want to put a end date on how long the contingency is for. You do not want to be waiting 6 months for the buyer to sell their home.
The key in any offer is negotiation. Most buyers do not expect you to accept their offer unless it is excellent at or above list price. It is OK to make a counteroffer on other offers. Just do not be greedy. There is a huge benefit to keeping the offer alive. When you are negotiating you are still showing the house and you may get another offer.
Remember it is not always just about the sales price. Are the buyers asking for you to pay closing costs? Are they willing to skip the home inspection? Are they prepared to give you the extra time after closing to take move out? Each of these items may value to you.
This should have given you a few ideas on how to negotiate and which offers are the best and why.
Picking the right offer can be confusing. Even after reading this article understanding what is the right offer to pick may be tough. Feel free to reach out and call me anytime.
one that says the buyer will purchase your home if and when they sell their existing home. Sometimes, in slow markets, you may end up accepting this contingency, but make sure it ends within a reasonable period of time, such as 30 days.
It’s common for buyers to write you a heartfelt letter about why they want to buy your home. And chances are, you feel pretty emotional about it. If all the other conditions of the offer work for you — price, financial ability to close the deal, timing and contingencies — go ahead and let them tug on your heartstrings. You want to feel good about selling your home.
two, three, or four offers all around the same price