5 Tips for Sellers To Improve Their Closings

Five tips sellers can use to improve their closing processes.

Closing with a frugal buyer is a tricky business, to say the least. Buyers will often do their best to get a deal on your property, and it's easy to conceive small bargaining chips that end up costing you more than you thought they would. While it's understandable that the buyer wants to get the most and spend the least, it's important to remember that this is one of the biggest deals you will ever make and that the return on investment you stand to gain matters more than the buyer knocking off a few dollars on their future monthly payments.

With that in mind, here are five negotiation tips for sellers to help you communicate clearly and receive the value you deserve for your home, even with a difficult buyer:

1. Get your home inspected. We know this sounds counterintuitive, but one of the keys to striking a good deal is to know your cards, and getting your home inspected is one of the best ways to understand exactly what you're selling—you don’t want any nasty surprises. Therefore, make sure that a professional comes to assess safety and hazard issues, as well as anything that might be a barrier to selling the house. Then you can decide what to fix and eliminate things that buyers will use against you.

2. Offer a home warranty. Before you go down the long and messy road of negotiations, be prepared to offer some affordable solutions to the buyer. One of the top buyer strategies used today is to point out the age of certain features or even the home itself and use that as a bargaining chip. Be prepared to offer things so you can get ahead of the buyer.

"The return on investment you stand to gain matters more than the buyer knocking off a few dollars on their future monthly payments."

3. Price ahead of the market. This is one of the best tricks to make sure you never waste too much time on negotiation. If done well, this will save you a ton of time.

4. Create competition. Creating healthy competition is an important part of getting the best possible price for your home. Potential buyers will expect to have competition and may place higher offers to combat this, resulting in a bidding war in your favor.

5. Make a timeline and stick to it. If and when things turn into endless back and forth with a buyer, consider putting an expiration date on your counteroffer. This strategy compels the buyer to make a decision, so you can either get your home under contract or move on. It's similar to creating an illusion of competition. It’s the difference between them taking two weeks to ultimately walk away, or them pulling the trigger in a few days out of fear of losing the opportunity.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out by phone call or email! I look forward to hearing from you.