Tips for Reviewing and Negotiating the Purchase Offers You Receive

Posted on: 25 October 2018

If you are trying to sell your home, you will most likely receive an offer for it at some point in time. This might come right away, or it might take months before you receive an offer—but you will receive one if you wait long enough. When you receive the offer, there are several things you will need to do to review it before you accept it, and you may need to come up with some ways to negotiate if the offer is not as good as what you want it to be.

Review the contingencies

One of the top things you should evaluate on the purchase offer is the contingencies the buyer has included. A contingency is something the buyer is asking you to do or agree to, or it could be any type of condition that must be met. For example, a contingency might state that the buyer will go through with the deal as long as the home inspection does not find major flaws. Another contingency might state that the deal will go through only if the buyer sells his home first. There are so many contingencies buyers can include on purchase offers, and you will need to make sure you can live with each one listed on the document.  

Look at the price along with the amounts requested for you to pay

Secondly, you should look at the amount the buyer is offering to pay for your house, plus you should factor in any money the buyer is requesting from you. For example, the buyer might offer to pay $180,000 for your house but may also ask you to pay $5,000 towards closing costs. In this case, the buyer is actually offering $175,000 for your house. If you were asking $180,000 for the house, this is a good offer. If you were asking $200,000 for the house, this might not be a great offer.

Compare the bottom line to what you were hoping for

Finally, you should compare exactly how much you will receive for the house if you accept this offer to how much you were hoping to get for your house. This will help you determine if you should accept the offer or negotiate with the buyer for an offer that is closer to the amount you hoped to receive for your house.

These are three good ways to analyze and negotiate the offer you receive for your home. Before you decide to accept it or not, make sure you talk it over with a local real estate agent.

Share