Negotiating your Home Sale

You've worked for weeks to get an offer on your home. Whether you have chosen to use a full service or limited service brokerage, you have paid fees, cleaned, listed, advertised, shown, and done everything else in your power to get your house into the mind of potential buyers. An offer has finally come in, but (of course) it's lower than your asking price. How do you go through this tricky process of negotiating, and still come out the winner?

Keep in mind that you should be preparing for the negotiation process from the minute you decide to sell your home. It's a tough one emotionally and intellectually, so you need to prepare in your head.

You also need to prepare practically. Never list your home for the price that you actually want for it, because you need to be prepared for that lower offer we talked about above. Most buyers and their agents make a low offer to start out with in order to test the real commitment of the seller. They expect a counter offer; here's how to go about it.

Keep emotions out. Remember, the goal is to sell your property. A lot of people are still emotionally tied up in their houses; be honest with yourself about whether your asking price is based on reason or emotion. Other emotions that may get in the way here are frustration and competition; the only win is when you do sell your house. And stay away from the temptation to believe the buyer thinks you are dumb, and that's why they are low balling.

Keep your timeline in mind. Some people need to sell right away, others do not. If you have to move into another house in another location, you don't have a lot of time to play around. Get right to the point; go down a few dollars, but not enough to seem desperate.

Keep everything to yourself! Every bit of information the potential buyer has about you can serve his or her interests. Don't let anyone looking at your house know that you have to move or what your timeline is; it will be used against you!

Understand the value. Take the time to have a comparative market analysis done so you have an idea of what your home is really worth. Odds are that the buyer will do so too, so you're actually both shooting for the same number.

Documentation! If things don't seem to be moving along, back up your position with any documentation you can. That includes the CMA, home inspections, and other details. There's nothing like the written word to convince shy buyers!