Why You Don't HAVE to Sell Your Home

Selling your Calgary home? Condo? House? No matter, what I have to say in this post is going to appeal to the both of you so keep reading!

It is a buyers market here in Calgary at the time of this publication which November of 2019, so if you are reading this blog post beyond this time frame the market may have changed.

I will pretty much guarantee that the principles below will NOT.

Here are the top 5 reasons you shouldn't accept an offer on your home.

Reason Number 1:

The offer is way too low. You are listed at say $400,000. You are on the market for 3 days and you get an offer for $360,000. The buyer comes in $40k off ask after only 3 days on market, really it doesn't matter if you are 30 or 300 days on market, you should definitely Counter that offer and work towards a number that will work for you and that will work for the buyer. 

Reason Number 2:

The terms don't line up with what you are offering. Looking for a 60 day possession and they offer 30? These timelines may be to quick for you, remember that you can negotiate the terms and the possession date. Don't ever let possession or terms of a contract be a deal killer, the last thing you want is to look back on what could have been.

Reason Number 3:

They ask for things in the terms that are not typically acceptable. Like What? Buyers can ask for anything right? An example might be that you just painted the place, had it professionally cleaned and replaced the carpets and the buyer doesn't recognize this and asks you to....professionally clean, paint and replace carpets. Provide them with receipts of the work and remove it from the contract.

Reason Number 4:

The buyers are nickel and diming you. My Dad told me this story once (both of my parents were Realtors®) where he once went back and forth on a Mobile Home at $50 increments at the buyers behest. I believe he still holds the record in Prince George Real Estate with the most number of counters on one offer. Try to match what they are doing and if they resort to going with low ball counter offers, remember that you can say no at any point in the negotiation. Just remember that you should be looking at your home sale as a financial decision, yes I know it is tough as it tends to be an emotional process, don't let the small incremental counters be a deterrent to putting a deal together.

Reason Number 5:

As you may have guessed I am all about being reasonable. Not only from a buyers agent's perspective but also insisting that the agent on the other end when I am representing the seller is reasonable as well. Ultimately you are trying to achieve the same goal as the buyer.

You want to sell your home. They want to buy it.

This is NOT an ego thing.

As a seller you should be thinking about "Leaving enough on the table for the next guy"

As a buyer....don't Nickel and Dime.

If you nickel and dime....You LOSE!

Negotiating is you and your Realtor® working together with the buyer and their Realtor® to come to favourable terms for both parties.

This shouldn't be about someone having to win and someone having to lose, think of selling your home as a Win | Win scenario.

If you come at it from that perspective you will 'win' your negotiation every time.

Want more advice on how to sell your home? Call me direct at 403-827-7527