Archive for Negotiations
Getting Your Offer Accepted
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Dear Betty,
We made an offer on a home that was about 5% below the asking price. The sellers rejected our offer! What can we do to make Kokomo sellers more reasonable? (We sold our home in Florida for 20% less than we were asking for it.)
Moving from Florida
Dear Florida,
Who says the sellers aren’t reasonable?
Just because you sold your house for less than your asking price doesn’t mean your neighbor in Florida or a homeowner in Kokomo should sell for less than they are asking for the home. Each situation is different.
That being said, offering within 5% of the asking price seems (on the surface) to be a reasonable offer. Note I said it seems to be a reasonable offer – not an acceptable offer! The only one who can decide whether an offer is acceptable is the seller. There are so many unknowns here:
- Did the homeowner make a counter-offer or simply reject your offer?
- Was this your first offer on the house or were you and the seller playing “volley ball” with the price and terms?
- Were there other offers and you were asked to make your “highest and best” offer?
- What else was in your offer that may have scared the seller?
- Did you ask for a longer than “normal” closing period?
- How much earnest money were you offering?
- Did you submit a preapproval letter from your lender?
- What kind of financing are you getting?
- Did you ask the seller to pay your closing costs?
There is so much more to getting an offer accepted beside the price. There are the terms and the contingencies among other things. And if you were dealing with a foreclosure there are a whole new set of rules buyers need to honor – but that’s another posting.
Ultimately, sellers set a price for their home and hopefully do it with the expertise of a professional who knows the local market. If they can get that price within a reasonable time frame, then they have realistically priced their home.
If they can’t get that price, they will either have to lower the price or the property will languish on the market and eventually expire or be withdrawn.
The main thing to remember is that your experience in selling your home doesn’t mean the same logic applies when you are buying a home in Kokomo or anywhere else. It also doesn’t mean that your choice to sell for less should in any way impact the sellers of this home.
Perhaps it would make sense to restructure your offer. You might raise your price but seek better terms. Or you could change the terms so they are more in line with what the seller is seeking. Your best bet is to talk with your realtor (hopefully you have one) who can advise you on how to structure your offer to get it accepted.
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Putting It All Together – Get Your Offer Accepted
Posted by: | CommentsThis is the fifth in a series of postings of tips on How to Get Your Offer Accepted on a Kokomo Home
Let’s review what we’ve talked about before going on to this final phase of putting an offer together – an offer that may get accepted!
- Part I: How to Get Your Offer Accepted on a Kokomo Home
We talked generally about things you need to know as you get ready to make an offer on a home that will be accepted.
- Part 2: Know Thy Neighborhood
We talked about how to look at a home, its condition and its neighborhood or subdivision. - Part 3: The Price is Right or Is It?
Next we actually looked at the prices of two homes in a subdivision. One was a foreclosure home the other was not. We factored in repairs needed and decide whether these two home were “right-priced” for the market. - Part 4: Please Mr. Seller, Gimme, Gimme… Get Your Offer Accepted
In the last posting, we talked about what you might ask the seller to pay for you – closing costs and prepaids and what they are.
Please Mr. Seller, Gimme, Gimme…
Get Your Offer Accepted
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This is the fourth in a series of tips on How to Get Your Offer Accepted on a Kokomo Home.
In Kokomo Home Prices – Get Your Offer Accepted we looked at how a home is priced compared to the sold prices of similar homes in the neighborhood. We also looked at condition – repairs needed and how much they might cost.
Before putting it all together to make an offer on a house, there is one more very important thing we have to consider. And that is what you are asking the seller to do for you! Read More→
The Price is Right or Is It? Get Your Offer Accepted!
Posted by: | CommentsThis is the third in a series of postings of tips on How to Get Your Offer Accepted on a Kokomo Home.
As we discussed in Know Thy Kokomo Neighborhood, the real work starts here… Deciding whether a house is priced where it should be based on its location and condition.
Since we used the example of Highland Springs in the previous postings, let’s use that as our frame of reference and work through the process together. Read More→
