Dear Home Seller: So, you are offended?
This agent from New York says it as well as I've ever heard it said! An experienced, knowledgable Realtor is invaluable when it comes to navigating the sale of your property. You should be prepared ahead of time with information about what to expect during the transaction. With over 60K hours of experience in NC real estate, my clients know EXACTLY what is happening, just like Jennifer's...every step of the way!
In some of my previous market reports I gave tips to sellers as to how to gain a competitive edge in this challenging market; one of the tips was: Do not take offense if a buyer makes a low-ball offer.
The present real estate market in the Dutchess County area is what is called a buyer's market. Properties are on the market longer, the inventory is large and there are fewer buyers.
You can imagine how surprised I was when one of my buyers placed an offer and the seller was so offended that the consideration of a counter offer was out of the question. This offer was by no means out of the realm of the type of offers I have been seeing this year, and with good negotiation a meeting of the minds would have been possible.
In this particular incident it was especially surprising because this property was in the price range that would have required a jumbo loan, a category in which there are even fewer buyers, but my buyer was paying cash.
I make a point to tell my sellers that a buyer will probably make a low offer but don't get offended by this, instead view it as the beginning point of a negotiation process instead of the end.
So what should a seller do next when facing this situation?
- Review the offer with your agent
- Take a look at the most recent sale of similar properties
- Make a counter offer.
Your counter offer will give the potential buyer a clear indication as to whether you are willing to budge on the price. or not. At this stage your counter offer might be accepted or you might have to do this back and forth a few times. The key is this, don't get offended and you might find that you can arrive at an agreement.
In the case I mentioned above, because of high inventory and cash in hand the buyer moved on to another property, and did not see any reason to waste time on a seller who took offense to an offer.
Jennifer Fivelsdal- Associate Broker- Keller Williams Realty Team
845-249-2945 or 845-758-6842 jennifer@jfivehomes.com and www.jfivehomes.com
SEARCH FOR A HOME IN THE MID HUDSON VALLEY
**** Informational only; deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.
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