What To Do When You Receive A Low Offer On Your Home

When you put your home up for sale, a lot of thought goes into what price you are going to list it at. After all, you want to receive the most amount of money possible based on what it is worth since that money is going to go toward your next home. This may cause you to wonder what you do if you receive an offer from a buyer that is below your list price. 

Decline The Office

The first thing that you can do is outright decline the offer. Let the buyer know that you are not interested in selling the home for the price that they offered, and see what they do. If someone really likes the home they will likely come back with a second offer that is closer to what you are asking for. This may be a technique that you use when you just list the home on the market because you do not know what kind of activity you are going to get at the home in the coming days and weeks. 

Counter The Offer

If you do not want to outright decline the offer, you can make a counteroffer to the buyer. You don't have to meet somewhere between the list price and their offer, but it will let them know that you are willing to work with them and compromise somewhat. Maybe it's a matter of reducing the price of your home by a couple thousand dollars, or something similar that is appropriate for the home's price range. Counteroffers start a dialogue between you and the buyer, but it can also waste time if they are not willing to pay the price you are asking for.

Ask For Contingencies To Be Removed

A seller normally has a few contingencies that allow them to walk away from the home purchase, such as having a bad home inspection or not securing financing. You can tell the buyer that you are willing to accept their offer in exchange for removing these contingencies. This means that you get to keep the earnest money if the sale doesn't go through, and the buyer will get a lower purchase price to make up for it. 

Ask For Their Final And Best Offer

If you have received multiple low offers on a home, you can let the buyers know that you've received multiple offers and are allowing them to revise the original offer that you made. By telling them to submit their final and best offer, you are essentially saying they have one more chance before the home will be under contract, so now is not the time to mess around with incremental offer increases. 

For more information, contact a real estate agent in your area for help negotiating.


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