Five Ways to Generate a Low Ball Offer

This article was originally posted on DothanHomeSearch.com

There is plenty of advice out there on things you need to do to get top dollar for your home. I'm here today to speak to those sellers that are not really interested in getting the most they can get (for whatever reason), so here are some tips you can follow to help insure that you get a low offer.

1. Don't look at your competition

If you are not concerned with your bottom line, then don't worry about what other homes in your neighborhood are selling for or what condition they are in. In the majority of neighborhoods, there are several homes for sale, and most of these have fairly similar amenities compared to yours. Buyers WILL see them all and WILL base their offer accordingly, looking at overall condition and updates and upgrades. Since you aren't looking at your competition and adjusting these things accordingly, buyers ARE going to offer you less.

2. Put off routine maintanence

Don't worry about fixing those rotten door casings, changing out your air filters, or replacing your worn roof. Time is money, and you're wanting low offers anyway.

3. Use comparable sales from the past 12 months

These are the comparables that appraisers use, right? Yes, appraisers will use comps from the past six months because they have to, but appraisal values do not adjust as quickly as real market value. So if you want a low offer, price your home slightly above the recently appraised value. To get a true picture of the current market, you'd need to go back to 2003 or 2004 for pricing comparables.

4. Show signs of desperation

Are you justifying your above market asking price with the rationalization that "I can always reduce it later"? There is really no better tool you can use to get a low ball offer than start chasing the market, or reducing your price regularly to get to the price you should have originally listed. Repeated price changes mean one thing to buyers; "they'll come down some more". And what if you list too high and don't come down? That would go under a post title of "How not to receive any offers at all."

Are you putting something to the effect that you are a "motivated seller" in your marketing efforts? That is another great way to generate a low ball offer.

5. Hire a timid agent

This one is probably the easiest of all. Be sure to hire an agent that will list at whatever price you want and will not give you lip about doing this and doing that to make your house more attractive. Your best choice is a good friend or a licensed family member that does real estate part-time, just to have something to do.

Here's the facts sellers. There are entirely too many choices out there right now for buyers, so generating a low ball offer is not as hard as it was in the sellers market of 2004-2005. Employ each of these steps to help insure an offer that is well below your list price.