Wait, I know what you're thinking...."Karen, don't tell people to low-ball offers, write a reasonable one"! Actually, that IS what I'm thinking about. Reasonable offers...which sometimes are low-balls.
Hear me out.....as a listing agent, I'd like an offer to work with, even if it's lower than we'd like, or think we deserve. Why? Because it allows my sellers to make the decision with a written offer in front of them. And....as a buyer's agent, you never know what will fly.
I'm not talking about low-balling because you are trying to get a deal, or cheat the homeowner, I'm suggesting that it's better to give a seller the chance to say "no." If presented in a respectful manner, then the seller can determine if there is room to work. This is especially true if there is a limit to what the buyer can do....sometimes it works out.
I have a success story to share.
Last week I was working with some buyers who have a limited budget...imagine that! We were looking and looking and nothing was jumping out at them. Then we passed an open house and stopped in, even though we knew the neighborhood was probably out of their league. And it was perfect...well, almost. It needed carpet (I mean NEEDED) and it had some peeling paint and the pool was green. But other than that.....perfect.
And too high priced!
They were going to just move on....when I suggested that we just give them our best offer. They only had so much they could afford, and they had to fix a few things, which would eat up the rest of the budget. But we presented our best offer, and carefully explained why the offer price was what it was. I'd also like to compliment the professionalism of the listing agent....who was not snooty nor dismissive, but thanked us and promised to explain the situation to the sellers.
Tonight...we just heard that we had a deal.
The sellers arranged to have new carpet installed by a friend of theirs and they bartered with someone to clean up the pool, and offered a gift certificate to Lowe's for the paint and supplies. I'm going to host a painting party after the close. In return, my buyers offered as much as they could qualify for.....and we have an open escrow.
All because we sent our low-ball offer! It might not have worked, but this time.....it did!
Comments(69)