Five Warning Signs Your Purchase Offer May Be Headed For Trouble
Yeah!!! We finally got that purchase offer on your home! We've been working for this for months, BUT......
There may be some trouble getting these buyers all the way to an accepted agreement! Why do we say that? There are some warning signs right off the bat or early on during negotiations that are typical of trouble brewing. Now we're not saying Last Rites on this offer, and we'll give it everything we've got to get this deal to the closing table for you, but here's some early warning signs of potential trouble:
- The buyer's agent casually mentions that your offer is the FIFTH that the buyers have written. We're sorry, but this is either code for "give us exactly what we want or we'll tell you where the sellers can stick it", OR the buyers are VERY prone to cold feet, OR they don't care about the home, just getting a STEAL! In any case, this doesn't create warm, fuzzy feelings does it?
- The buyer's agent keeps saying "You know it's a buyer's market" when sending over an offer WELL below current market value AND asking for everything that's not nailed down. Especially true when we've established that your neighborhood is heading up quickly. If the agent doesn't recognize the market, chances are neither will the buyers. They'll all be swearing you're grossly overpriced....and then see a few weeks later you got your price.
- The contract is incomplete. Sections aren't filled in, disclosures aren't included, no copy of the earnest money check. Nothing against the buyers, but this is a bad sign that their agent might not be the most competent out there. Negotiations can be tough enough without having to worry about whether or not the other side has a clue about how it's done.
- Their response to your counter is almost identical to their first offer. Now they may still come up to something that will work, but typically this indicates they're feeling good about their number and not likely to come up much.
- Their preapproval letter, or the lack of one. No preapproval letter at all? Pot luck at this point. Maybe they can qualify, maybe not. Another hazardous sign? None of us have ever heard of the bank granting the preapproval letter. Again, it may be no big deal, but those preapproval letters that end in ".com" don't always bode well. Always good to be able to stand in someone's office when there's a problem that needs resolved.
Now there are some factors here we can mitigate, others we can't. You can trust if there's something that we COULD do, we'll do it. And if this offer can't be saved? You can bet we're marketing to the fullest to get you another offer!
Serving Warren County's residential real estate needs,
Liz and Bill aka BLiz
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