In this video I want to talk to you about feedback and low offers when selling your house. It’s very important to not let initial feedback or a low offer offend or upset you. Often times feedback is just a potential buyer looking for something that they like or is their preference, and is not an attack on you. And a low offer is just that…a low offer. It’s not meant to offend or be disrespectful.
In this video I’ll talk more about these 2 areas of selling a home and how you can not take it personal.
Let’s Start With Feedback
You’ve got your house on the market and you’ve got a great agent, doing all she/he can do to get it exposure, and you’re starting to get those showings.
What is the first thing you want to know when you get that showing?
You want that feedback, don’t you? Your agent does all that they can do to get you that feedback, and sometimes the feedback is going to be positive and sometimes it may be a little negative.
Let’s say you just painted the house, and you painted it what you thought was a phenomenal color, but one of the feedback remarks that keeps coming up is about, “I’m not crazy about the color.”
Other forms of feed back can look and sound like this:
“I just don’t like all the tile.”
“That master bathroom is just way too small.”
“What do you mean I have to go up two flights of stairs to get in the house?”
There are all these different things that may come up. Here’s what you’ve got to remember; don’t take it as a personal assault or insult to yourself.
These are just buyers looking for something that appeals to them and we all know that we all have different tastes, different likes, different needs, so don’t take it personally.
And for goodness sake don’t shoot the messenger, your agent. We’re just doing what you hired us to do: get those showings, give you the feedback.
Obviously if there are some things that keep coming up consistently and there’s some things that you can change, that may be an indication that you need to address those issues so that it doesn’t become the obstacle. Try to overcome certain obstacles if at all possible, but don’t take it as a personal insult.
Low Offers and Negotiations
The next thing is you get into negotiations. Let’s look at this scenario:
You’re really excited, your agent is coming over, she’s got the offer, this could be the one, and then they put it down and say, “Okay, well we’ve got a really great offer here, let me go over it.”
The first thing you want to know is what? That’s right, you want to know the price.
You get the price and you go, “What? They offered me what? Oh forget it!”
Whoa, slow down take a couple of deep breaths and back up. Let’s look at this. Just because they offered a price that’s not the number you have in your hands, doesn’t mean that you can not come to a meeting of the minds. That’s why it’s called negotiating.
Many times buyers are going to come in and they may come in a little lower, or maybe a lot lower, than you expected with proper pricing.
Sometimes there are buyers that need to be told no at least once, so don’t get all wrapped around the axle because it’s not the price you expected it to be. It doesn’t mean that you can’t come to some sort of compromise that still makes you happy when you leave the closing table.
That’s what your agent is there to help you through. To help keep the emotion out of it.
Additionally, you’ve got to look not only at the price, but also what are the terms.
- Are they cash, and they’re closing in two weeks?
- Are they having to get financing?
- Are they asking you to pay closing costs?
- Are they asking you to pay the title?
- Are they asking you to provide a home warranty?
These are all things your agents will go over with you and educate you on. Then you can sit down and make the best decision for yourself. Understand that it’s not supposed to be an insult.
We’re all out there looking for the deal aren’t we? But it doesn’t mean you have to sell it for that. Try to keep your mind open and see what works best for you.
You all know that you listed above what you expected to get. I hear it all the time. “Well let’s just list it a little bit higher to allow for some negotiating because nobody’s going to pay list price.” (Read more about the Benefits of Proper Pricing)
Well, now you have an offer, and guess what? It wasn’t list price, it’s just what you expected, right?
Try to find that happy place where both parties can come away and think, “Wow, we both ended up with a good deal.” You got the house you wanted, and I got the price I wanted.