How To Out-Negotiate Homebuyers and Investors

If you plan to sell your house, be prepared to deal with experienced buyers and dreaded low-balling investors. Most homeowners would rather avoid going through a realtor or real estate agent to prevent additional fees.

In today’s housing market, where there is speculation of an economic free-fall, the time to sell property is now. However, selling property for the price you are happy with is becoming more complex.

While remodelling your house to the point that you can justify after-repair-value or ARV prices helps, it is not enough. The property in immaculate condition only fixes half your problem with selling the house. The other and probably more complicated half in negotiations.

When selling your property, dealing with experienced buyers and low-balling investors is all about knowing what to leverage. Their motive is to find every reason to reduce the price of your property. So you need to identify the techniques and negotiation strategies they employ to understand how to counter them.

If you get careless, you might sell your property for much less than it is worth. Here are some things buyers and investors will ask and say to gain an advantage in negotiations.

How much do you want for the property?

When dealing with a buyer, the first rule is never to mention the price at the onset. A buyer asking for your price may sound innocent, but many agendas exist behind that question.

In most cases, they are just sizing you up to see how overpriced or cheap you will price your property. It is also an excellent way for them to see how desperate you are to sell the house.

Sometimes it is also how the buyer will gauge if you know what you are doing as a seller. Price it too high, and they will see that you do not entirely grasp what you are doing. Price it too low, and they will think you are either desperate or there is something wrong with the property.

The technique is to find the right balance and make sure you remain in control over the price. Never allow the buyer to take the slightest bit of an upper hand over your property’s worth.

If you ease up even a little bit, you will likely lose all control over the price and lose your profit margin. Remember, it is your property. At the end of the day, you dictate the price, so always be firm with your asking rate.

What is the condition of the property?

This is what buyers say to chip away at your confidence and question your pricing. It may sound like they only want to know what they need to repair or how many door and window replacements they need to make. However, there are reasons behind this seemingly innocent question.

First, they are trying to get you to talk more about the property to get vital info for negotiations. Second, they want you to keep talking to make you subtly negotiate with yourself on price.

Some of the most experienced investors ask you unrelated questions depending on what they find is essential to you. If it is about family, they will leverage that. If your reason for selling is a nasty divorce, they will pretend to be on your side to butter you up.

There are many avenues buyers and investors will explore to outsmart you for your property. Luckily, with this helpful guide, you can be more vigilant of their tricks.