"How To Negotiate Your Home Sale" will walk you through what to expect when negotiating your real estate transaction, without the help of a real estate agent. From preparing for the negotiation to crafting a counteroffer, this video will arm you with all of the information you need to successfully negotiate the sale of your home.
When you receive an offer for your house, you enter into negotiations.
Negotiating sounds intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be.
Successful negotiation is the art of ‘getting to yes.’ You have something the buyer wants: your house. There are many ways to ‘get to yes.’ Typical terms of a house sale include:
Price
Closing Date
Inclusions – these can be appliances, grills, patio furniture, rugs, window treatments, light fixtures, and other elements that may or may not appear to ‘go with’ the house
Closing costs
Other transaction-related fees
Decide in advance what negotiation points are most important to you. Would you rather stick with a higher price but be flexible on when the sale closes, potentially even renting the house back from the new owners for a few weeks to give them time to move? Or maybe you’d rather offer a garage full of garden equipment in lieu of contributing money to the closing costs. Knowing your own priorities equips you to offer things you don’t want as much, that might be of greater value to your buyer. That’s a win-win.
Prepare for Negotiation
Know your priorities
Update your market research. Do very recent sales indicate an trend up, down or sideways in prices?
Understand the current lending environment. You need to understand the lending factors that limit your buyer’s flexibility.
While Negotiating
First, make sure that this buyer can actually afford the house. Require a preapproval letter from a lender with the offer. The entire negotiation is a waste of time if the buyer can’t get a mortgage.
Consider the elements of the offer to choose which you need to respond to and which you will accept.
If you are disappointed with a low initial offer, cool down before responding to the potential buyer.
Listen closely for clues as to what the buyer’s priorities are. If the buyer specifies that the playscape in the back yard be included, that is a clue that he might be willing to give on other points.
If you are not sure why the offer came in as it did, ask the buyer for some context. Ask what comparables used to arrive at the offer price, for instance.
Provide additional justification for your counter offer. Submit the most recent appraisal that supports your price, for example. This is why it’s wise to have the latest market data on hand.
Frame your counter in terms of what “the market” commands, not in terms of what you, personally, must have.
Respond to each individual element of the offer to show that that there are some parts that you accept.
Don’t be afraid to trim down the requested seller’s contribution to closing costs.
Conduct the negotiation via email, fax or phone, to keep it from getting too personal. There will be plenty of time to meet the buyer in person once you have an agreement.
