By: Connie Vallone – www .har .com/blog
You just received a purchase offer
from someone who wants to buy your home. You’re excited and relieved, until you
realize the purchase offer is much lower than your asking price. How should you
respond? Set aside your emotions, focus on the facts, and prepare a
counteroffer that keeps the buyers involved in the deal.
Check
your emotions.
A purchase offer, even a very low
one, means someone wants to purchase your home. Unless the offer is laughably
low, it deserves a cordial response, whether that’s a counteroffer or an
outright rejection. Remain calm and discuss with your real estate agent the
many ways you can respond to a lowball purchase offer.
Counter
the purchase offer.
Unless you’ve received multiple
purchase offers, the best response is to counter the low offer with a price and
terms you’re willing to accept. Some buyers make a low offer because they think
that’s customary, they’re afraid they’ll overpay, or they want to test your
limits.
A counteroffer signals that you’re willing to negotiate. One strategy for your
counteroffer is to lower your price, but remove any concessions such as seller
assistance with closing costs, or features such as kitchen appliances that
you’d like to take with you.
Consider
the terms.
Price is paramount for most buyers
and sellers, but it’s not the only deal point. A low purchase offer might make
sense if the contingencies are reasonable, the closing date meets your needs,
and the buyer is preapproved for a mortgage. Consider what terms you might
change in a counteroffer to make the deal work.
Review
your comps.
Ask your real estate agent whether
any homes that are comparable to yours (known as “comps”) have been sold or put
on the market since your home was listed for sale. If those new comps are at
lower prices, you might have to lower your price to match them if you want to
sell.
Consider
the buyer’s comps.
Buyers sometimes attach comps to a
low offer to try to convince the seller to accept a lower purchase offer. Take
a look at those comps. Are the homes similar to yours? If so, your asking price
might be unrealistic. If not, you might want to include in your counteroffer
information about those homes and your own comps that justify your asking
price.
If the buyers don’t include comps to justify their low purchase offer, have
your real estate agent ask the buyers’ agent for those comps.
Get
the agents together.
If the purchase offer is too low to
counter, but you don’t have a better option, ask your real estate agent to call
the buyer’s agent and try to narrow the price gap so that a counteroffer would
make sense. Also, ask your real estate agent whether the buyer (or buyer’s
agent) has a reputation for lowball purchase offers. If that’s the case, you
might feel freer to reject the offer.
Don’t
signal desperation.
Buyers are sensitive to signs that a
seller may be receptive to a low purchase offer. If your home is vacant or your
home’s listing describes you as a “motivated” seller, you’re signaling you’re
open to a low offer.
If you can remedy the situation, maybe by renting furniture or asking your
agent not to mention in your home listing that you’re motivated, the next
purchase offer you get might be more to your liking.
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