Real Estate Negotiation

Not The Highest Or Best Offer

Just had a closing for a client.  This one really reflects the experience I bring to the table for clients.  My favorite real estate negotiation experiences are when I get my buyers under contract without having the highest or best offer.  And this closing was exactly that.

How Listing Agents Handle Offers

A big part of the success on this specific deal was understanding how the listing agent intended to handle offers.  He stated he would be presenting offers on a first come, first serve basis.   This immediately made clear that being the 1st offer in the door (so to speak) would give my clients an advantage.

Better Than Full Price Offer

So of course I recommended a better than full price offer.  That’s right.  Even though we were the very first buyers to submit an offer.  And even though the seller would review offers as they came along, I suggested a better than full price offer.  Why? I suspected our offer would not be the only one on the first day.

Sure enough, another offer came along at about the same moment.  And the other offer was ultimately for more money.

Real Estate Negotiation Comes Into Play

This is where my years of experience came into play.  The other offer was simply for list price, with an escalation clause.  That escalator said the Buyer would beat any other offer by $1,000.  Suddenly, our better than full price offer was not the highest offer on the table.  And the listing agent suspected he might get more offers the following day.

Time was clearly of the essence.

Buyer Agency Means Putting My Client’s BEST Interests First

I took a leap.  I suggested my clients would close the gap of the $1,000 in price.  The Seller would benefit from getting the Buyer who always saw the value in the home.  I suggested the other offer was really trying to steal the house with merely the full price / escalation offer.  It worked.   The listing agent bought into my line of reasoning.  But would the seller agree?

I also had a secret strategy at play.

Hand Written Notes Win Hearts

We live in this wired digital era, where its all business. But in my professional real estate negotiation experience, a hand written note can make a world of difference.  My clients wrote a very specific note.  They talked about moving closer to their adult son and grandchildren.  

Turned out, the listing agent had innocently mentioned his client was an adult owner selling the home where her Mom had lived before having to make a move to assisted care.

The owner bonded with my clients.  And she accepted our offer that night.

collage of asian client, kitchen and pink bed with note related to real estate negotiation

The Highest Offer Arrived The Next Day

The following day, another even better offer actually came along. It was for another $7,000 over our contract price.  By then, we were already under contract. My clients purchased the perfect home for not the highest offered price!

And today, my clients just closed on that transaction.  I’m thrilled we were able to get the house without the highest or best offer.  We were able to get the house through strong negotiation skills I’ve honed through a career in realty.  Skills I can put to work for you!

Boulder Real Estate News recommends:

 

Leave a Comment