Special offer

The five counter offer

By
Real Estate Agent with ERA Real Solutions

When someone asks me what the market is like right now, this has become the answer. There are so many homes for buyers to choose from and the tendency is for the initial offers to be quite low, so hence we counter, they counter, we counter....well, you get the picture.... A few years ago, there was no opportunity for the buyers to counter, it was give your best offer and maybe there won't be another offer come in prior to getting the one counter offer you were hoping for. If you were lucky enough to get it, then in most cases you took it and were forever grateful.

How times change. Most sellers right now are extremely happy to get offers and then, of course, the counters begin. How many counters does it take? Actually, my record this year is eight...and the deal still didn't come together. The reason to write about this is to not tell you something you already knew, we all know that it is a buyer's market. The moral of this story is that there are buyers out there looking for homes. They do have an enormous number of homes to look at and they are looking for good value. But, if you have a home to sell and genuinely want to sell, it will sell. If you want to buy a home, this is a wonderful market to do so.  

No one will know where the bottom of the market is until it is here and gone. If you are waiting for the bottom, unless you have a crystal ball, you will miss it. There are many good buys already on the market just waiting to be snapped up by the right buyers. So my advice to you as a realtor who has experienced both markets is to take advantage of the great interest rates and the abillity to get a great buy, because we never know what tomorrow will bring...

Gaylen Thornton
Desert Heritage Real Estate - Surprise, AZ
Excellent summary of what is happening to all of us. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I agree, it is a good time to sell and buy if you really want to get it done.
Oct 10, 2007 04:00 AM
Wayne Miller
San Diego, CA

Bravo Charlene,

You've made some very good points.  I get so tired of hearing there are no buyers from other Realtors. I usually repond by saying, lower you price and see how fast buyers will come out of the wood work. 

Oct 10, 2007 04:02 AM
Bill Gillhespy
16 Sunview Blvd - Fort Myers Beach, FL
Fort Myers Beach Realtor, Fort Myers Beach Agent - Homes & Condos
Hi Charlene,  The post is a good reminder of how important our negotiating skills are.
Oct 10, 2007 04:02 AM
Frances C. Rokicki
Fran Rokicki Realty, LLC - Bolton, CT
Broker-Mentor,CRS
Experience with negotiating is what will hold these deals together. Hopefully, the newer agents will learn fast. We are returning to a normal real estate market. It seems to be affecting all sides of the transaction. I have negotiations that go on for weeks.  I have some Seller clients that just take the first offer, they want to move on.
Oct 10, 2007 04:08 AM
Joe Salcedo
Chase International Real Estate - Reno, NV
Reno Real Estate

Charlene,

     Interesting post. I agree Buyers are out there looking for the killer deals.

I just want to add that we need not a crystal ball to know what the future holds. There are some

market statistics that can give us clues on what the future may hold. Though it may not be exact. You

can be ahead of the majority who has no idea whatsoever what the market is doing.  Here is the

complete story of my experience: Reno home Blog 

Oct 10, 2007 04:25 AM