We Tried to Sell Our Home by Owner

We Tried to Sell Our Home by Owner

About Me

We Tried to Sell Our Home by Owner

I’m Harvey James, thanks for stopping by my website. My wife and I thought it would be easy to sell our house without the help of a realtor. We live in an affluent residential area where homes sell quickly. Our house is in excellent condition inside and out, so of course it would be easy to sell, right? Wrong! We found that there’s nothing simple about selling your own home. We put a sign out front and did a bit of advertising. Five months later we still had our house on the market and had only had one very low offer. My wife suggested we contract with a broker, so we decided to give it a try. Three weeks after the agent listed our home, we had accepted an offer and were in escrow. There are many reasons to list with a realtor. I hope you benefit from my story.

 

Ways To Negotiate When Buying A House

14 June 2017
 Categories: Real Estate, Blog

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When you find the home that is perfect for your budget, needs, and lifestyle, your next step will be to make an offer on it. If you are working with a real estate agent, he or she will gladly assist you with this process and will offer tips to help you create the best offer. This process is often referred to as negotiating, and you should put a lot of thought into it, simply to make sure you get the best deal possible. Here are some tips to help you create a great offer on the house you would like to buy.

Offer an amount just under the home's value

While there are times when people are able to buy homes for prices that are way under the value of these homes, it is more common for people to pay a price that is around the current value of the house. As you determine what amount to offer, look more at the value of the house than the asking price. People can place any asking price they want to on homes, but it is the current market value of these homes that matters more.

For example, if a house's asking price is $199,000 and the real estate market reveals that the house is actually worth $190,000, you may want to put in an offer for around $188,000. This would be fair, simply because it is just under the actual value of the home, and the seller might agree to it for this reason.

Consider asking for other things

If you prefer to offer an amount that is closer to the asking price of the house, there are other ways you can negotiate to get more out of the deal. For example, you could make a full-price offer on the house but ask the seller to cover some of the following things:

  • Closing costs – It costs around 2% to 5% of the home's selling price for closing costs. Asking the seller to pay these could help you save up to $10,000.
  • Repairs – Another option is to ask the seller to repair or replace something, such as the kitchen countertops or cabinets.
  • Ask for things – The other option you have is to ask for other things, such as all the appliances or the hot tub that is in the back yard.

There are a lot of different ways to negotiate when looking for homes for sale in your area, and your real estate agent will be there to help you determine the best strategy for you to use.