One of the biggest challenges in buying a new home is the offer process. If your offer is too low, it may get rejected, while making a high offer could result in too high of a purchase price and ultimately costing you too much money. Our agents have been in your shoes and we want to help you understand a couple of the most important factors when it comes to strategically placing an offer on a home.
Why is the house on the market?
Learning what the seller’s motivation for listing their house can give you a powerful advantage when it comes to positioning your offer. However, sometimes the answer is not as obvious.
Use the listing reason to your advantage.
If you’re not already aware of the seller’s reasoning, begin looking into public records about the home. These records are easier to find than ever, with sites like Zillow and Trulia aggregating so much of the major info for you, like a most recent sale, tax information, and price history. If the current owner purchased the home recently, he or she may be trying to turn around a sale quickly but also may be more sensitive to accepting an offer that’s lower than the price he or she purchased it for.
For more information on variables that could potentially affect your purchase price, visit the County Auditor website for the county that the home is located in. Perform a property search and read some of the documents you find. This will make it clear to you whether the property is in a flood zone – causing you to have to pay costly flood insurance, had a flagged survey, or any other potential blips in the official paperwork that you could use to your advantage during the negotiation process.
Put your best foot forward.
When you’re in the heat of negotiations, it can be tempting to play hardball, but sometimes even a small kindness on your part could make all the difference if the seller is weighing multiple offers. Oftentimes potential buyers will write a thoughtful note to the seller explaining what they love so much about the house. If selling is emotional to a seller who really loves his or her house, this type of gesture can really stand out.
To learn more about Merit Real Estate and the services we provide, visit www.MeritRealEstate.com or call (310) 379-4444 today!