Sellers: Dealing with Offers to Purchase Your Property

  Congratulations! You got your first offer.  While every situation is different and there are exceptions to every rule, here are some recommendations and things I have learned about offers to purchase:

·         A quick offer does not mean your property is priced incorrectly. If you get an offer right away, it’s because you are lucky. A speedy sale is generally a combination of marketing and timing. Raising your property price and holding out for a higher offer rarely has successful results.

·         No offer is “insulting”. Real Estate is a business. Even though you may be emotionally attached to your property, that is not a factor in the buyers offer or the final sales price.

·         Counter Every Offer If the offer is low, a seller should still counter it. In fact, I insist that my sellers counter every offer.  If a seller wants to counter at full price or even over full price to make a point (that the buyers offer is ridiculous) that is fine with me. The point of the counter is to keep all parties engaged.  Also, there are generally items other than the price that need to be addressed, so a counter gets those items taken care of right away.

·         The first buyer is the right buyer. More often than not, the first buyer is the right buyer, even if their first offer is not. 

·         The first offer, after counter offers and negotiations, is the right price.  A lot of times a seller exchanges counter offers with a buyer and in the end the seller doesn’t accept the buyer’s best and final offer. The property then sits on the market, price gets reduced, and the property ends up selling weeks later (sometimes months later) for less than that original negotiated price.

·         Offers are a balance of price and terms. An offer can be comprised in many ways.  A strong offer could be a cash offer that’s a bit lower, offset by short review periods and a quick closing. Another strong offer could be a higher one with the buyer getting financing with longer review periods and a distant closing date.  Of course, ideally every seller wants a high offer from a buyer paying cash with a quick closing, but that isn’t always the case. So make sure to take into consideration both the price and the terms when deciding about an offer.

As I mentioned, there are exceptions to every rule but, more often than not, I have found these tips and concepts are consistently true.

Happy Selling!