Another important consideration is the market. To be safe you want to allow yourself enough wiggle room to come down in negotiations, but if it’s a buyers’ market you will have to do more to make your home stand out. Pricing your home below the competition should ensure multiple offers, thus driving up the selling price. Other tactics include being flexible around financing options and offering incentives. In any case, you want to price your home low enough that you will get traffic through – the first three weeks are important. If the house sits longer than three weeks perspective buyers may assume something’s wrong with it.
In a seller’s market it’s safe to add 10 per cent to the last comparable sale in your neighborhood and in a balanced market you may aim to add an amount based on the last comparable sale plus the average market increase calculated over the time since that sale.
Remember, pricing your house is as much an art as it is a science. In the end the price is important, but marketing and staging your home plays a vital role as well. A good realtor can guide you through this process and help you get the best price for your house.
Unpleasant Negotiators
Sometimes you encounter someone who is not going to be happy unless he maneuvers you into accepting less than your home is worth or doing things for his benefit that are unreasonable. Then what? Well, first let’s discuss the most common forms these nasty types take and then we’ll talk about what to do with them.
One frequent form the unpleasant negotiator takes is the person who tries to intimidate you and disparage your property. Red flags should go up if someone works hard at trying to get you on the defensive. I’m not talking about an occasional negative remark. What I’m talking about is a whole string of them and the attitude that goes with it. Even if it’s cloaked in the appearance of classic good manners and charm, you’re dealing with a rascal.
The second typical form an unpleasant negotiator takes is the “nibbler.” You think negotiations are over and that the two of you have come to a mutually acceptable agreement. Then at various points as you progress toward completion of the sales process, the other person “nibbles.” They usually pretend they had no idea that the carpet needed to be stretched, the roof needed to be replaced, the crystal chandelier in the dining room did not convey, or fill-in-the-blank, and use that as an excuse to change things. This process can and does continue right up to the point of settlement or the point the deal falls apart, whichever comes first!
The Walk-Away Secret
Sometimes you get these two nasty types in one negotiator, but don’t despair. You can cope with them. The first thing you need to do is to stay in a calm, evaluating frame of mind. At each step along the way, ask yourself, “Is this reasonable? Am I willing to do this in order to make a sale?” Proceed as long as the answer is “yes.”
Be willing to walk away if the answer becomes “no.” I cannot over emphasize the power of “being willing to walk away” from negotiations. Don’t read that phrase too quickly. Be “willing to walk away.” It is one of the strongest negotiating tools on the planet. It’s simple. It does not require being nasty. However, what it does require is that you not consider your home sold (or bought, for that matter) until all negotiations are really over.
Think about it. You put yourself in a “losing posture” with a nasty negotiator the moment you emotionally consider your house sold. So long as you’re willing to walk away, you have power that is as strong as the buyer’s wish to buy. If such a “deal” blows up, so be it. You weren’t going to get what you wanted from it anyway.
Now, a word about “nibbles.” There is a civilized way to cope with this. Don’t hop into doing it until you really feel it is a nibble or you become a nasty negotiator yourself. However, a nibble can be dealt with by inquiring blandly, “If I do that for you, will you do ‘fill-in-the-blank’ for me?” Your goal is to convey to the nibbler that each successful nibble will cost him something. Make it something significant relative to the nibble request.
If you don’t think fast on your feet, you can always say, “I’ll get back to you on that.” Don’t allow yourself to be rushed if you think best when you mull things over. Stay calm and thoughtful. No one can force you to make a sale or purchase that’s not in your best interest. Keep evaluating the situation, and stay open to the possibility that you may need to walk away until the sale is complete. That way you won’t force yourself to do what’s not in your best interest either. It’s not easy, but it’s very simple. Stay in control of yourself.
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Aug
17Real estate investment is about finding good deals…
Posted By: Ramon Rivas on August 17, 2009 at 6:32 pmReal estate investment is about finding good deals
Real estate investments are often treated as one the best ways of investing money. However, what you are looking for is not just any real estate investment, but real estate investment that can give you good returns. By real estate investment we mean investing money into property i.e. buying property at a low price and selling it at a higher price so as to make a profit out of it. So the most important part of good real estate investment is to get hold of such properties which can give you good returns.
Now, how can you get these potential profit-making deals?
Your first avenue for finding good deals is the local newspaper (the property newspaper). Just search for properties that are listed directly by the owners who want to avoid paying commission to the real estate brokers. Since the owner is saving on the commission that they would otherwise have to pay to the broker, they would probably be able to offer a lower price to you and be more open to negotiations. You could also place your own ‘wanted’ ad in the local newspapers. On the same lines, you could use internet to search for the real estate investment avenues. In fact, you would be astonished by the number of real estate investment opportunities you are able to locate on the internet. Not only that, searching for real estate investment opportunities (i.e. property for sale) is much easier on internet than anywhere else.
Another good way to hunt for real estate investment opportunities is by using the services of real estate brokers. Some people use real estate agents as their first (and maybe the only) touch point for getting real estate investment opportunities. The real estate agents act as information hub for people looking to buy property. In fact, a lot of sellers find it much more convenient to sell their properties by listing it with real estate agents.
Multiple listings service is another good way to find real estate investment opportunities. Since the multiple listing book is provided only to the real estate agents and not to the general public (unless you are very lucky), all the cream (good real estate investment opportunities) would have already been taken before you get to see the book. The key here is to look for expired listings that didn’t get converted to a deal.
Another good way to get a property, that is a good real estate investment, is to look for foreclosures by banks/ VA/ FHA or to visit public auctions. You can generally get a good deal here. Divorce settlements are another good real estate investment opportunity.
The Best way by far I know to find teh Best Deals is by using the infromation available about properties in distress that have enough equity built in so that you can really profit from them. Click here to find out more information about the tool that gives you this information without having to leave your home.
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