Let’s talk about a common analogy: buying a home is like riding a roller coaster. Finding the home you love and submitting your offer is like getting to the top of the biggest incline, where your excitement hits a peak after building and building.
You and your Client Advisor have worked together to put together a strong offer using strategies that work for us again and again. You have every reason to be confident that the seller will accept your offer.
Then you come speeding down, exhilarated but feeling a little out of control. That’s the period of negotiation. All you can do at this point is wait for news, which can be very stressful.
While being on the rollercoaster may feel scary, you’re actually safe on a planned track. And when we negotiate for you, you’re also on a planned track.
We’re here to make every part of buying a home as straightforward as possible, so we’re sharing how we negotiate. The process will probably never be totally without stress, but we can turn it into a kiddie coaster!
Our approach
Negotiation happens between your Client Advisor and the home’s listing agent, who represents the seller. We recognize that listing agents are all unique individuals with their own distinct personalities and approaches to negotiation.
Our approach? We treat them as they want to be treated. Client Advisors at Flyhomes are trained negotiators who will consider who they’re working with, then adapt accordingly. They build strong relationships with these agents and tailor their negotiation strategies based on those relationships and the listing agent’s preferred communication style.
Questions we ask
We communicate with the listing agent before submitting your offer, looking for information that will help us make your offer the strongest one they receive.
- Will the seller accept early offers? Many homes are listed with a set date to review offers. When we know there’s an option to submit early, we can choose to do so, getting your offer in first. Even if we’re not going to offer early, having asked means that the listing agent will keep us posted if they receive another early offer, which may help you decide to move forward.
- How much interest is there? This is a gauge for how much competition your offer may be up against. We ask if any other parties have taken steps that indicate they’re serious about the property. These steps differ market by market, and may include pre-offer inspections and disclosure packet requests.
- What’s the reason for selling? We’ll tailor the offer to the seller’s goals. A seller who’s lived in a home for a long time is likely looking for a buyer who will cherish the home as much as they did. We may recommend you write a letter to the seller to accompany your offer. On the other hand, the home may be owned by an investor, who will be most interested in selling to the buyer with the highest price and best terms.
- What’s your style? We like to know whether an agent prefers phone, text, or email so we can stick with their choice. We also like to know when the listing agent will meet with their sellers to review offers. This way, we pay attention to how much we’re hearing from the listing agent at that time. If we’re not getting questions about the offer, it’s likely that they’re busy with another buyer, which may prompt us to pre-emptively send in an update to your offer.
What you should expect
Our job (and what we love to do!) is helping you understand the strategies that have worked for our clients again and again. We’ll be thorough in discussing both price and terms offer to help you craft your strongest offer.
Offer day is a big day and we’ve detailed what to expect here. Two situations may require special expectations during negotiation: lower offers and competitive homes.
Lower offers
The most important thing with a lower-priced offer is to be thoughtful. It’s unlikely that the seller will accept your first offer if it’s below list price, so understand how much higher you’re willing to go and what terms you’re willing to compromise on. Be realistic about the value of the home, too. If the initial offer is too low, the seller may not believe you want to make the sale happen. We’ll work with you to find a price at your comfort level that feels respectful.
Competitive homes
A common strategy for sellers is to set an artificially low list price in order to create a bidding war. No matter the list price of a home, market conditions are what dictate the sale price. Just like buyers use websites to tell them what a home is worth, sellers also use these resources to know the value of their home. Especially if there are multiple offers, they’ll need a good reason to settle for less.
A low offer in a competitive situation will likely be used by the seller to shop for other, higher offers. We’ll discuss your best offer to avoid this situation.
Contract walkthrough
Before you sign a contract with the seller, we’ll walk through it with you to be sure you understand the risks and benefits.
Our contracts are written to protect you and we want to make sure you fully understand and are comfortable with any contingencies you’re removing and other terms the seller may request.
It’s rare for issues to come up in contracts, so many agents don’t do a contract walkthrough with their clients. But we don’t want you to be the one person that has an issue we could’ve found!
Let’s get started!