Real Estate: Buying and Selling

If you've found a property that you love and absolutely want to call your home (or as an investment), then you'll likely put in an offer for it. But with several other buyers also likely eyeing the property, how can you boost your negotiation power with the selling agent? Here are some tips to help you.

Find Out What Can Sweeten The Deal For The Seller And Offer It If Possible

When you really want a property, you need to find out what the main objectives are for the seller so that you can try to sweeten the deal. For example, is the seller looking for a short settlement period because of relocation? Offer a short settlement for a small decrease in price as a win-win solution for both parties. Similarly, does the seller want to sell the home without having to undertake any repairs? Offer to buy the home as it is instead of demanding any fix-ups and you may get a slightly better deal. Finding out what the seller really wants from the sale will help you. Talk to the selling agent to try and get some detailed information.

Make A Strong Offer To Start With

With several other parties also likely interested in the property, there's no point in beating around the bush. If you're serious about the property, make an offer that's worth negotiating over instead of something that will be easily rejected by the seller. Sometimes buyers try their luck with low offers, but this can backfire and cause the seller to overlook your offer completely — especially in a hot-selling real estate market. Do your research ahead of time to know how much you should offer if you're really serious about the property; real estate agents can help you figure out this offer. A good initial offer allows you to open a negotiation channel with the seller and their agent.

Be Ready With Your Finances

Some buyers make the mistake of making an offer on a property before they have received conditional approval on a loan — only to back out later because they over-extended themselves and were unable to get the whole loan amount from the lender. A seller wants reassurance that the accepted offer for sale will go through. A good way to negotiate is to be completely ready with all your finances and lender approvals. This way the agent and seller know that you're serious and that the sale will likely go through, allowing you to negotiate a better deal.

In most cases, sellers will set an asking price with room for a little negotiation, so make sure you find a way to boost your own bargaining power when dealing with the seller's real estate agent.