Don’t show emotion when previewing the home. Be polite, but if you let the
seller know what you are really thinking it doesn’t matter what else you do! He
knows he’s got you hooked.
Get totally loan approved. A pre-approved buyer (not just pre-qualified) is
almost as strong as a cash buyer. And if you are totally certain of your ability
to obtain the necessary financing you may even want to remove all financing
contingencies except appraisal so that you are exactly like a cash buyer. By
letting the seller know that you are willing to risk your earnest deposit in
this fashion he can assured you are serious and confident of a timely closing.
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Offer the seller more earnest deposit than he was asking for. This is guaranteed
to get the seller’s attention when you are negotiating. By giving him a larger
earnest deposit he is assured of your seriousness and is confident of a timely
closing.
Be flexible about moving dates. Whether the seller wants more or less time on a
closing, if you can give him what he needs here, you can almost always assure
yourself of some price concession. You may even offer to close and allow the
seller to "lease back" the property from you for a short time. This gives him
access to the funds he may need for closing on his next home or moving. Just be
sure the lease back period is not longer than 30 days or your lender will
consider you an investor and may charge you a higher interest rate. And make
sure you retain a security deposit from the seller’s proceeds in case something
goes wrong at the house after the closing that is not covered by a home warranty
policy.
Hide your closing costs in the sales price. Though this does not necessarily
work every time, sometimes a seller who feels he has received his "selling
price" may agree to pay some of the buyers closing costs as part of the
transaction. Instead of thinking of his bottom line - what he nets from the
transaction - he is consumed by getting a specific amount for his property.
Ask for seller concessions in the sales price. These can range from including
existing appliances to a carpet or paint allowance.
Key Tactics
The final step is to "guess" what the seller was "hoping" to get, based on the
information you have gathered about the seller and the property. If you offer
too low he may be insulted and retaliate in kind on his counter offer. The key
is to try and figure out an amount that is slightly less than what he was hoping
to get, but that is close enough that he gets more nervous about losing a
possible sale and a strong buyer than he is about lowering his sales price.
Remember, while your agent can advise you on possibilities, the ultimate
decision on what to offer is yours. But if you use the above techniques you
should almost always be able to negotiate a better than average deal! |
