WHAT IS THE REAL OFFER? |
Often, sellers make the mistake of only considering the price when the buyer makes an offer. Many people’s gut reaction is that the price is “too low” and immediately reject the offer.
That could be a mistake. If you listen carefully, hidden inside the offer may be pearls of information that would make you reconsider accepting less than full price. You don’t want to reject any offer out-of-hand. Let us consider the deal carefully. It almost always consists of two parts. The first part is the price. The other part is the terms. |
PRICE AND TERMS |
First ask yourself what you want out of the deal. A less than full price offer would have to list terms that were appealing. |
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ITEMS TO CHECK CAREFULLY IN THE OFFER |
1. Is the buyer pre-approved? You want to know how qualified the buyer is to make the purchase. While you may not care about the buyer’s actual name, you’re looking for a strong pre-approval letter from a lender saying that this buyer will get a mortgage sufficiently enough to make the deal. If the buyer is putting down a substantial amount of cash, say 20 percent of the price, you also want to see a letter from a bank, certifying that the buyer has sufficient funds on hand to close the deal. Some smart buyers these days will even come in with a credit report to show you. 2. How quickly can the buyer close the deal? 3. Are there any sweeteners? 4. Are there any cash incentives? 5. Is there another property involved? 6. Are there any negative terms? |
TAKE YOUR TIME |
When an offer is presented, a time limit may be attached to it. For example, a “Cinderella” deal is good only until midnight of the same day. You might receive it at 9 p.m., which leaves a window of three hours to accept, reject or counter.
The idea behind this strategy is to force a seller to act swiftly. Most buyers will allow enough time for careful consideration. The important point here is to not be pressured by a deadline. You need to have enough time to feel comfortable with your decision. In other words, TAKE YOUR TIME! It is better to lose an offer than accept a bad one. |
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