As distasteful as it may be too many homebuyers, negotiating is an inevitable part of the homebuying process. For a house isn’t necessarily worth the price tag – it’s worth only what buyers are willing to pay for it. Sometimes, you may strike a deal with the seller right off the bat, but, more often, there will be a lot of back-and-forthing, a process involving offers and counteroffers. So negotiating remains a critical ingredient in getting the best deal possible. With that in mind, we offer our top negotiation tips for homebuyers in Woodland Park.
Understand Negotiation’s Importance
Understanding the purpose and functioning of anything is always the first step toward using it well. So our first and perhaps most important negotiation tip for homebuyers in [markety_city] is that they understand the real purpose and thus the importance of negotiations in the homebuying process.
So why, exactly, is negotiation important? “Because, “according to industry pros, “you don’t want to pay more than the house is worth – or you can afford. if you’re not planning ahead or strategizing your home purchase, you’re basically setting yourself up to accept whatever the market or the seller says regarding sales price and other conditions.”
But where many Woodland Park homebuyers go wrong is in thinking that negotiation is only about the price tag. It is actually as much about the contingencies as it is about the purchase price. In fact, when you submit a purchase offer, you should also be negotiating “to include contingencies that allow [you] to exit the contract without liability or damages, opportunities for potential renegotiation upon discovery of potential property defects or an appraisal that is below the offered price, guidelines for the holding of escrow funds and much more. In that sense, the negotiation process is an opportunity for [you] to put forth a contract that best fulfills [your] real estate purchasing goals while protecting [you] from potential pitfalls.”
And getting this right takes a good deal of experience and expertise. That’s why most homebuyers are better off going through their agent when making an offer and negotiating. Discover more about how a local real estate agent can help you negotiate the best deal by calling 719-480-8638.
Respond Quickly
Our second tip – and an area where many homebuyers in Woodland Park miss the mark – is that you should respond quickly. That is, after you make an offer, you need to respond to the counteroffer (which is very common) as soon as possible.
If you delay your response, you allow time for another buyer to jump in with a better offer and thus create a bidding war. And when that happens, you lose a great deal of your negotiating leverage. Again, with your agent’s help, you can respond quickly and thus stay on favorable negotiating ground.
Negotiate on the Basis of the Total Package
Also, keep in mind that you should be negotiating on the basis of the total package, not just the price (as we mentioned above). Many other factors beyond the sale price go into the equation of a good deal for homebuyers in Woodland Park.
For example, experts maintain that “[g]etting the house for less than the asking price . . . might be a false victory if the house is expensive to fix or maintain . . . For buyers, the initial most important number is how much they’ll have to pay to buy the house, including fees, points . . . and closing costs. The other equally important number is how much it will cost monthly to own the house.”
Keep Emotion Out of It
It’s usually hard to do, but as a home buyer you need to keep your emotions in check and make only rational, objective decisions in negotiating. For example, if you make an offer and the seller comes back with an outrageous counteroffer, don’t get offended or angry – just return a reasonable counter-counteroffer, again proceeding according to the guidance of your agent. Or, on the other hand, don’t make an offer that is too high because you fell in love with a house. Keeping emotion out of it will help you get a better deal.
Know When to Walk Away
Homebuyers in Woodland Parkt is truly a rookie move to contact the seller directly. It’s just not done, mostly because the terminology is tough to master and legally sensitive.”
These are our top negotiation tips for homebuyers in Woodland Park, but there are many more things you should know about negotiating effectively for the best deal possible. The key takeaway here is that in most cases you should not try to go it alone.