My North Seattle Home

While you will be trying to sell your home for the highest price possible, the buyer will be attempting to pay as little as possible. It’s a game of give and take (and maybe some bluffing) and is the most nerve wracking part of the home selling (and buying) process. Working with a good realtor will help keep you sane and hopefully get the best deal under the prevailing market conditions.

Some of us are better than others at handling pressure situations. You are so close to selling your home and your anxiety levels can skyrocket. If the back and forth negotiations are less than smooth, it is important to try to stay calm. Getting riled up and angry at the buyer will just leave you feeling resentful at having sold your lovely home to them.  Go for a hike, a few pints, a movie, or all three of them!

Counteroffers
Most times, the seller will not accept the buyer’s initial offer as-is. The buyer has probably offered to purchase at a lower price than you are willing to accept. The seller has the following options

1. Accept as is
2. Ignore the offer
3. Counteroffer

Scenario #1 might occur in a hot sellers’ market where there is a bidding war and a buyer has offered 105% of the asking price with no contingency clauses. Nice deal if you can get it. In the case of low-ball offers, the seller may just ignore the offer and not respond.

What usually happens is that the seller will come back with a counteroffer to the buyers initial offer. And so the two parties start entering into back and forth negotiations, each side making counteroffers against the other side’s offer. Ideally, this process will not have too many rounds (2-3 is good) and remain amicable. The best result is that both sides reach a consensus and both sides feel like they got a fair deal