As you all know we have been in the ultra fun *cough* house selling market for a few months now. I would say about half of all the showings we have had have been in the middle of the workday. Obviously its a little bit less than ideal peacing out in the middle of the workday to go get a house ready for a showing, and I am always skeptical when someone is looking at houses during the workday. So this Saturday we had a showing that was setup a few days in advance; a real rarity compared to the usual “Hey people are coming to look in half an hour.” So this kind of gave us hope since they were obviously interested in the house to plan ahead to come look at it. As it turns out they they came over and stayed in the house for about 20 minutes. Thats a good sign. Then they wanted to come back and look again on Sunday. Even better sign. They brought a ton of people with them this time and stayed in the house for 30 minutes. Awesome. So last night we’re at my parents house for my sisters birthday and the phone rings: we got an offer. At this point we’re both super excited until we hear the offer details and it gets a little harder:

They want:
-Over 5% off the asking price, which is over 10% off the true value of the house.
-The excluded appliances including brand new stainless steel fridge and the washer and dryer
-The curtains
-Broncos season tickets

Ok, just kidding about the season tickets (got my own wants mixed up there) but they really did ask for the curtains.

We really need this deal to work out so we are negotiating with both sides. Lauren and I had a rough plan outlined for what to do in case we needed to bargain but Lauren and our realtor Vicki Lairson, who has been excellent, came up with a specific plan to get what we need by giving both sides enough incentive to close the deal. Hopefully it will go down as follows:

We offer our buyers:
-The extras they asked for
-Meet halfway on price

Try to get from builder:
-The appliances that we are now out
-A small amount more off the price

This gets everyone what they need. Our buyers get a smokin deal: the house for basically what Lauren bought it for plus appliances, a huge patio, beautiful landscaping including a fountain, central A/C, garage door opener, and all the other work we’ve put into the house (which is a ton). We get the amount we need for down payment, the payment we are comfortable with, and the appliances. The builder gets to close a deal and have our house off their hands and into ours…and they still get to make money. Its impossible to say for sure but several people we know that are in the building industry we have talked to have given us good ballpark figures of what it costs the builder so by those estimates they still get to make decent money. Its a win-win-win for everyone.

So now we just have to hope it all goes down. Ill let everyone know. But now I know some of you are wondering
“Well, what do I do if I get a low ball offer on my house, and Im just trying to sell and I don’t have somewhere else to make up that money?”

Glad you asked.

Be as informed as possible.

The best way to deal with these kind of offers is to know your facts like Bo knows football. The real trick is understanding the market as a whole, the market as it pertains to your area, and how your property fits into the bigger picture. In bad market times like we are in right now it may be that the low ball is really not a low ball at all: its a fair offer considering the market. It all depends. The real truth is that the more information you have, the easier it will be to negotiate on your terms.

Low offers are very common in real estate and its not something to take personally. That is the biggest mistake a lot of people make is to take it personally. If you have done your research and you know that the offer is nowhere near market value make your counter offer near your original price or simply do not even counter. There is no reason to work with a buyer until they are working with you. The less informed you are, the more likely you are to take a low offer.

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