If your house has been on the market for four or five months, you've probably dropped your asking price already. Now you're waiting for people to rush in and give you their great offers on your now low priced property.
Then this happens. A lone buyer appears like a bandit and offers you less than what you want, about 10% less. So you have already dropped your $360,000 house down to $334,000, and the offer comes in at $304,000 and on top of it, with a seller subsidy request of $5,000. At this point, your net is $$295,000.
So how should you handle this low-ball offer? First, don't get angry, panic, lose sleep or reject the offer right off the bat. Take in mind that the buyer is serious or he/she wouldn't have made the offer. Something to keep in mind is: the buyer and his agent have been house hunting and have looked at many homes and conducted a study of property value for your home before writing an offer.
Now it's time to analyze your goals and needs. How much do you need to come out of this deal on top? Can you move into your next home from this deal? What is the lowest you can live with? What amount is your counter offer going to be?
Now the negotiation game begins. Keep the game alive for as long as the buyer will. Give a little at a time. Your real estate agent knows how to play this game best of all, but on the other hand so do the buyers. So, be reasonable while playing.
If you reduced your home to $334,000, expecting an offer of $329,000 with you paying $10,000 in closing costs, then start there. You were already willing to accept a net of $319,000, so you're not that far off. Come down on your asking price to $330,000 and only pay $5,000 in closing costs. Now your net has come up to $325,000. Or, you can pay $10,000 in closing costs and still be up with $320,000. And, you're ahead of the game if they accept.
A great thing to do when you counter offer is to give lots of complements about their offer such as thanks for writing, what a great offer, and we're excited about selling this home to you. Everyone loves a nice complement.
If they counter offer, let them know that you want this just as much as they do but you have goals to meet like they do and that you hope you can bring this whole thing together to get you both where you want to be. And let them know that this is your last offer.
Just remember to be patient during the process. Try not to get upset and work together to get what you want.
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