5 Negotiating Tips For Your New Home

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Buying or selling a home can be a stressful situation for anyone. Fortunately, it is possible to hire real estate agents to make the entire process a bit easier on both sides. There are a number of aspects of buying and selling a home that an agent can assist with, such as helping buyers find potential properties, walking buyers and sellers through the entire process, and even negotiating the price of the home. Often times, negotiating price is the most difficult aspect of a agent’s job, but here are some negotiating tips that tend to help keep both sides of the real estate transaction happy.
Comparing local home values
One of the best ways a real estate agent can have some leverage on price is to do his or her research into local home values. For example, a home may be priced at $150,000, but if all the other comparable homes in the neighborhood are valued at $110,000, then this information can be used to talk the seller down to a more reasonable price.
Knowing the market
By being aware of local real estate and housing trends, real estate agents can also have a one-up on the buyer or seller’s agent in any transaction. For example, an agent can potentially talk a buyer into offering a little bit more for the house if he or she can convince the buyer that the home will likely increase in value due to local housing trends in the near future.
Working in closing costs
Closing costs on a home can easily total $3,000 or more, and this is in addition to the final sale price on the home. Therefore, real estate agents often use closing costs as a way of saving buyers money; by offering a certain price on the home but asking the sellers to pay closing costs, agents can save the buyer thousands. On the other hand, a seller’s agent may offer to pay closing costs in exchange for a higher sale price, so this technique can work both ways.
Discussing repairs
Before most home purchase deals go through these days, the buyer will insist on having an inspection done to ensure that the home is in good shape and to detect any major defects or repairs that need to be made immediately. A good agent will be able to use defects and problems found during a home inspection to talk a seller down on the overall price of the home.
Hiding information
When a person is approved for a mortgage, they are typically approved for up to a certain amount. A real estate agent will intentionally withhold this information from a seller to avoid him or her from trying to get more for the house than it is worth. For example, a person may be approved for $200,000 but only wants to offer $150,000 for the home. The agent will not disclose that the person is approved for $50,000 more so as to keep costs as low as possible.
Overall, there are a number of strategies employed by real estate agents to ultimately negotiate the price of a home to a point where both parties are happy.

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