Negotiating An Offer

If you have time to sell your house and there is no real reason to move quickly, it may make sense to see what other offers come in over a few months. However, if you need to sell your home or you are worried about how it looks to have your house on the market for a few days, we may be able to push things along by setting deadlines.

If you want multiple offers you need to price your home competitively. It is as simple as that. If your home is in a popular neighbourhood, if it is priced competitively and it has great curb appeal, you should be able to set deadlines confidently. If all goes well, you might be able to sell for over asking.

Your First Offer – Or The First Offer That Looks Good

You’re probably scanning for one thing: the price, once you get that offer in hand.

Your offer should probably fall in the 90% of asking range before considering it. If the offer is within 90% of your asking, you should also look at these four and important components:

• Closing costs (are the buyers asking you to cover it)
• Closing date (usually 30 to 90 days from the date of the agreement)
• Buyer financing
• Conditions

Closing Costs:

There are offers that may seem great on the surface, but once you delve into the conditions, those offers can look anything but great. For example: Is the buyer asking for closing costs? Sometimes, first-time buyers don’t have enough money to cover the down payment and the closing costs, so they’ll ask the seller to foot some of the bill—about 2% to 3% of the total closing costs is a common request. If you agree, any assistance you give will lower your bottom line, so factor this amount into the asking price.

Closing Date:

Time frames are also crucial. If you were expecting to be in your home for a while as you were in no rush to move and now the buyers want a 15 day possession day or 30 day closing – you have to figure out where to relocate you and your family. Not matter what the timeline is, make sure the timing works for you.

Financing and conditions:

Financing shouldn’t be a problem as you should have verification of pre-approval. However, if the deal is contingent on the buyers house selling. Or, if the deal is based on a home inspection you may run into problems or you may have to re-list as both of those conditions are fairly standard and both of those conditions give the buyer the option to opt out if the buyer house does not sell and if your house does not pass inspection.

As always, if you need help buying or selling your home please don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.