One of the more frustrating things you can do when selling your house is to get involved with buyers who are not serious about buying. They may come to an open house or see your property online, but when it comes time to making a real offer, the proof is in the pudding. Even though they may have legitimate interest in the property, their offer says something else. Many times this is just the nature of buyers constantly trying to get a good deal, but it could be in the way you present your property. Working with serious buyers requires an acute attention to detail.
It is no secret that better properties produce better offers. Every time you put your home on the market, you open it up for intense scrutiny. Every door knob, window and fixture will be examined in an attempt to knock down the value and subsequently the purchase price. Before you put the property on the market, you need to take the time and spend the money to make sure this isn’t a problem. The more you put into the house, the more serious your buyers will be and less likely you will get a lowball offer. Lowball offers are not necessarily the worst thing, depending on who is making the offer.
Depending on the scope of you and your realtors marketing, you may get offers from out of town. Any offer that comes in, whether it is for asking price or significantly below, you need to check the quality of the offer. Asking price is great, but if the buyer is not qualified it will do you no good. In fact, it will set the process back weeks or months and hurt your chances of getting the best price moving forward. If your buyer is really serious they will have all of their ducks in a row from prequalification to contract.
In addition to making sure the financing is in order, you need to look at the contract itself. If a buyer is putting down a minimal amount in earnest money deposit, this can be interpreted as a sign that they aren’t really serious about your property. They may be shot gunning offers on numerous properties and may have only seen your property online or from their realtor. The next contract issue to look at is with their inspection contingencies or if they are looking for credits on the property. Serious buyers understand not to ask for these if a property is quality and in demand. They will want to close as quickly as possible and produce documentation supporting this. If they are dragging their feet and making changes every other day, it may be best that you move on now rather than wait two weeks and start the process over with someone else.
There is a lot that goes into selling a home for top dollar. It starts with you as the seller putting the best possible product on the market. From there, it falls on you and your realtor looking at more than just the asking price in getting the best possible deal. The most money is great, but sometimes the best deal is not for the highest price. Working with real buyers will either get you the highest amount or allow you to sell quickly and move onto the next property.
