Here’s what sellers and their agents can do to ensure a top-dollar sale.
What can sellers do to maximize and maintain their negotiating power throughout the entire selling process? First of all, when you list, price your home competitively to open the market up as opposed to narrowing it. In the right market, this gives a seller the greatest potential to receive multiple offers, which then allows them to negotiate from a position of strength—that’s always our goal.
Once the offer is received, the seller’s agent should call and interview the buyer’s lender to confirm that the buyer is pre-approved and can complete the purchase. After that, the seller’s agent should call the buyer’s agent to learn more about the buyer’s motivation, what’s most important to them, and how things may go throughout the transaction. Sometimes, a seller’s agent can get a good idea of what may lie ahead just based on the buyer’s agent’s tone of voice.
In a multiple-offer situation, a seller’s agent can call for every buyer to submit their highest and best offers. Once that call has been made, the seller and their agent will want to set a deadline for when those highest and best offers are to be received. When these final offers come in, the seller can then make the best decision based on their needs.
“Make sure your buyer is pre-approved and can complete the purchase.”
Also, part of the negotiations involves establishing a timeline for inspections. Typically, we want to keep the timeline as short as we possibly can for the sellers; doing so limits the risk of being off the market for an extended period without an answer as to whether or not the buyer will be willing to move forward with the purchase.
Once the buyer and seller have agreed upon the terms, the focus turns to getting that offer signed and sent off to the title company and lender so processing can begin. We don’t want to leave any extra time for the buyer to peruse a competitor’s website and start doubting whether our seller’s home is truly the right fit.
If you have any other questions about this process, please consider me a resource. Give me a call or send an email my way. I’d love to chat with you about your specific home-selling needs.
