Tips to Successful Real Estate Negotiations

Buyers

In today's real estate market, buyers are looking to get a great deal on the home they purchase. How great a deal a home buyer gets depends on the home they purchase and how they negotiated. However, before you make an offer and start negotiating on a house, especially on Greenville SC real estate, it is important to have your pre-approval letter or proof of funds from a lender before making an offer. Submitting a pre-approval letter with your offer shows the seller that you are ready, willing and able to purchase their home for sale. The seller will take your offer more seriously. You also want to make sure that you and your real estate agent do a market analysis of the home you are interested in to make sure that you are not paying more than comparable homes are selling for in the neighborhood. Your Realtor can gather comparable sold properties using the Multiple Listing System (MLS). If you are going at it alone, you can search your county's tax records for comparable sold in your area. For more information on how to make an offer on a house, read this article on Tips on Making an Offer to Purchase a Home.

Now that you have seen the comparable sales in the area, is the home overpriced, priced right or under-priced? If it is over-priced, your agent may have to submit these sold comparables along with your offer to justify your offer price. If it is under-priced, then you have a motivated seller, and you probably do not want to submit a low ball offer. Making a low ball will not only insult the sellers, but it may take too long to come to an agreement. This allows time for other buyers to submit offers on the same house. When you get in a multiple offer situation, the seller will probably request highest and best offer from all buyers, and you will end up paying more for the home. So, be cautious when submitting a low ball offer.

As a Realtor in Greenville South Carolina, I have worked with some home buyers who have either read somewhere or was told that they needed to make an offer of 20% less than asking price on any home they were interested in. Folks like this must understand that most home sellers can not afford afford to sell their home for 20% less than list price. Heck, some can't even sell for 5% less. Of course there are certain situations where you may need to make a low ball offer, but if you do your homework prior to making an offer, you will be able to make a reasonable offer that will not insult the seller. Keeping in mind that the seller probably will not accept your initial offer, unless it is a full price offer. The goal is to arrive at terms that are mutually acceptable to both parties. You can also ask for such items as the refrigerator, washer, dryer or furnishings during negotiation. This is especially important when negotiating on a new home. While the builder may not want to decrease the neighborhood home values by selling for less, they may be willing to give you some upgrades instead.

Remember that the more contingencies you have in your offer, the less attractive it becomes. If you have to sell your home first, the seller may not want to risk loosing the exposure on their home while you try to sell yours. If you happen to find a seller that is willing to accept an offer contingent on you selling your house, they may not be willing to accept much less off the list price. While negotiating, you can also ask the seller to pay some or all of your closing costs, and you always want to make your contract contingent on home inspections and appraisal.

If you need a qualified Greenville SC Realtor on your side when buying a home in Greenville or in a Surrounding area, contact me at 864-438-5050. Use our home finder tool to search Greater Greenville SC homes for sale now.

Sellers

If you get an offer on your home for sale, treat that offer like it is the only offer you will ever get. Especially in a buyer’s market. I can't tell you how many sellers who refused to take an offer with hopes that they will get a better price when they get another offer, and then months down the road wish they would have accepted that first offer they got. In other words, take all offers seriously. Negotiate each offer until there is nowhere else to go but to walk away.

Don't take it personal when you receive a low ball offer from a buyer. All home buyers want to get a great deal on a home they buy. Some of them will make a low ball offer to see how much of a great deal they can really get. If you get one of these, don't get offended. Simply use the comparable sales in the neighborhood to show that the home is not over-priced. I have had a situation where we could not find enough comparable sold homes, and had to get an appraisal to show the buyer that the home was worth what the seller was asking. Even though the seller got really offended when I submitted that initial offer, we ended up coming to an agreement and completed the sale. So, take your emotions out of the negotiations and you might find a way to come to a mutual agreement on terms that is acceptable to both parties.

Remember that the buyer may not accept your first counter offer, so be careful not to go all in with your first counter offer, and then not have anywhere else to go. If you leave the appliances like refrigerator, washer and dryer out of the MLS listing, you can use them to negotiate with them buyer later if you can leave them.

If you are looking for a Greenville SC listing agent to get your Greenville area home sold, contact Victor at 864-438-5050 for a free consultation. or complete the form below to request a Highest Price Analysis of your home.