What Makes You Think the Seller Will Accept That Offer?
This morning I was reading Charita's well-written post, "All Reasonable Offers Will Be Considered," and it inspired me to write this post. I have been thinking about this for quite some time, and I'd really love to hear what my fellow Rainers think.
I have a listing that I feel is appropriately priced, and it received an offer a few weeks ago. When my sellers determined what their asking price would be, they based it on several things. Mostly, it was due to the very well-researched CMA that I provided to them. Based on what has been selling of similar size, age, area and amenities, plus the fact the the area home prices have been steadily increasing over the past several months, they came up with an appropriate asking price and it went to market.
Now, I would never waste precious MLS space on a statement about "reasonable offers." That should be a given. If you havent' read Charita's post yet, click on the link above. I'll wait....
Maybe I am not understanding something. When the offer came in, it was a full $16,000 under asking price, and the buyer's agent acted like he was doing my sellers a favor. This is not a million dollar property, by the way. We are talking about the under $270,000 range, so $16,000 is quite a chunk!
Being a professional, I presented my sellers with this gift. They weren't happy, but they are professional people as well, so they countered back at full price.
Boy, did the buyer's agent give me an earful about that. In fact, he demanded to know what business they had doing such a thing (!).
So I told him that based on the comps and the sales in the area, they priced it at exactly what they were willing to sell it for. I didn't get snarky or rude. I didn't chastise him or insult him with the "reasonable offer" line. I just underscored that the asking price was based on research and that was what they wanted to see.
Isn't this what all sellers should be doing? Where is it written that the asking price should always be undercut? What's more, if your buyers can only afford a home that is $16,000 less than this, why would you show them something they cannot afford?
Help me out here folks! What are you seeing in your area?
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