Home Sellers: It's Time to Turn the Tables on Offers
If you are a home seller in the current market, you know how frustrating
it can be to sit back and wait for a purchase offer to come in. You may
have even had buyers come back to look at your home more than once, but
you still do not have an offer in your hand. It can be frustrating as
well as frightening. You probably wonder how long you will have to wait
before you actually receive and offer.
Why not make one of your own?
That is exactly what some home sellers have decided to do when they grew
tired of waiting for an offer to come in on their homes.
Does the thought of that sound crazy to you? Well, to be certain, it is
revolutionary and unconventional, but as many home sellers point out,
desperate times call for desperate measures.
Here's how it works. Instead of waiting for a home buyer to make an offer on
your home, you make them an offer to buy your home. This revolutionary
real estate tactic is known as a reverse offer and it is definitely
gaining in popularity.
Keep in mind that a reverse offer is not the same thing as a
counter offer. A counteroffer occurs when a buyer has already made an
offer on your home and you counter back with a different offer. With a
reverse offer, the home seller rather than the home buyer initiates the first
offer.
Reverse offers are usually best used when a home buyer has show a higher
degree of interest in your home than other buyers. For example, if they
have scheduled a second showing, then you might consider making a
reverse offer. Of course, it is best to give them an opportunity to make
an offer on their own but if a week or so have gone by and you do not
yet have an offer in your hands, then it may be time to think about a
reverse offer.
A reverse offer could be just what is needed to get the buyer off the
fence. Perhaps it was just some little something that was holding the
buyer back. Maybe they are just concerned about the current market and
still aren't quite sure yet whether they are ready to make a commitment
to purchasing a home. The truth of the matter is that home buyers can be held
back by any number of reasons. The best way to counter that problem at
the current time certainly seems to be to make a reverse offer.
The key to reverse offers in most cases involves the home seller making some
kind of concession. For example, you might agree to reduce the asking
price or making some type of improvement to the home. The real idea is
to dangle some type of irresistible carrot below the nose of the buyer
to encourage him/her to get serious about buying your home.
Of course, you should keep in mind that when you make a reverse offer,
you are letting the buyer in on the fact that you are anxious to sell
your home for some reason. As any successful negotiator knows, this is
not the best way to start any negotiation, but if you truly need to sell
your home soon, then this may be a good option for you. It should also
be kept in mind that if you are truly desperate to sell your home, that
is going to be revealed no matter what you do. There is probably no
easier way to tell buyers you are desperate than to drop the price of
the home. A reverse offer might tell the buyer you are desperate but it
also gives them incentive to buy as well.
When considering a reverse offer, make sure you keep in mind that you
cannot make your way around the buyer's agent, if he is working with
one. Make sure that you keep everything up for the best results.
Finally, make sure you talk to the buyer's agent to determine if you can
find out what might be holding the buyer back. This will allow you to
custom design the offer to meet those objections and hopefully overcome
them.
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