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The Seller Scene: Negotiations & Bidding Wars

One of the most exciting and critical parts of the home selling process are the negotiations. After you’ve listed your home, dealt with the number of strangers poking through your personal space, and worked hard to keep the house clean, you finally have an offer. All your sweat and energy has paid off, but what happens when the offer is not what you expected? Home buyers can have a whole lot of excuses for making offers lower than the asking price, ranging from maintenance issues to personal feelings on the house’s worth.

When you see a lower offer than what you expected, it’s important to not get disheartened. Negotiating is normal for selling a home. The buyer could even be testing the waters, to see how low you’ll go. So, after an offer has been made, you have 3 options:

  1. Accept the Offer
  2. Reject the Offer
  3. Make a Counter Offer

Bidding Wars – Making a Counter Offer

If you feel the offer isn’t high enough, but still close to what you’re looking for, then making a counter offer is the way to go. However, it’s also important to avoid getting into a bidding war (or tug of war) with the home buyer. This can dramatically draw out the selling process, frustrate both you and the buyer, and ultimately, crash the offer. You should have already done research into the market and know how much homes are selling for. Most importantly, though, is to keep these pointers in mind:

Learn from the Comps

A “comp” is a comparable property that has recently sold in the same area as your house. These are key indicators as to how much homes are worth and how much buyers are willing to pay. If you know how much your home is potentially worth, then you’ll be better inclined to make smart counter offers. And it’s more than likely, the buyer is also doing the same thing. So, if you’re both on the same page, you can easily make appropriate offers and finalize the sale quickly.

Refuse to Play Games

Bidding wars can seem like a game at times, but selling your home is no joke. Each buyer tries to guess how much you’ll accept, and you’ll probably do the same when you make a counter offer. My opinion is write one offer. Make it your best price and see where the buyer takes it. The most important thing at this stage is to remember your bottom line. If you know the market from comps and know how much you’d like, then you should be set to go. Buyers are a dime a dozen in today’s real estate market.

Selling Your Home

If you’re still thinking about selling your home in the Charleston area, be sure to read our other blog articles about selling. And if you’d like to talk about selling your home with a Cassina real estate agent, fill out the form below or visit our Sellers Page.

The Seller Scene:

Stay tuned for the next installment of the Seller Scene!

 

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