In a hot sellers’ market it can be challenging for home buyers to know how to best negotiate in order to win a bidding war against other buyers. Bōde’s platform allows easy communication and negotiations between home sellers and buyers – all online! Here are some tips for negotiating as a buyer when the control is in the hands of the seller.
1. Start with your best offer
In a hot sellers’ market, it is not advantageous for buyers to start with a lower offer. The seller could receive competing offers and this could ultimately result in losing out on the home before even having an opportunity to submit a higher offer. A good approach is to decide when your best offer is and go in with that, knowing that if you are not successful you will be content with offer you made.
2. Ignore the list price
The list price may not always be the best indicator of what a home will sell for or what it is worth. Recently, there have been more instances of underpricing homes to spark bidding wars. It is always best in hot markets (or any market) to do your due diligence before blindly bidding on a home. Bōde’s market tools give buyers access to all the information and data you need to make an informed offer. Browse Market Data, Sold Data and Comparables.
3. Think about conditions
Conditions, or lack there of, could make or break your offer. Offers without conditions are more appealing to sellers, however, these offers also carry risk for buyers. Be aware that waiving a home inspection could result in costly issues down the road. Being confident about the structural build of the home is crucial to forgo this condition. Waiving financing can also be troublesome and may result in the loss of a damage deposit and even potential legal actions from the seller if you are unable to proceed with buying their property. To eliminate a financing condition from your offer, you must be sure that there will be no issues obtaining the funds needed to purchase the home.
Some things you can do without waiving all your conditions include:
– Communicating flexibility to the seller. Most often this is on closing/possession dates which may carry a lot of weight with the seller when they are considering all offers.
– Avoid adding additional inclusions not indicated by the seller. Don’t focus too much on negotiating which items are left in the home (for example: the washer and dryer) when ultimately being the winning bidder is probably most important to you.
4. Make a personal connection
Connecting personally to the seller by submitting a letter or video and explaining why you think the house would be a great fit for your family can be a strong way to stand out. It can be comforting for some sellers to know who will be taking care of their home and making memories after them. Part of the online offer process with the Bōde platform allows adding a note to the seller.
5. Show you’re serious
Having your deposit (or a photocopy of it) ready to go and actually submitting it with your offer is a great way to demonstrate to the seller that you are a serious and committed buyer. Giving the seller confidence that your offer is solid may go a long way in helping your offer look more appealing than others.
At the end of the day, only one offer will be selected. If that isn’t you, remember that there are other properties available and eventually you will find the perfect fit.
If you are having a hard time finding, and securing, your perfect home you could consider trying ‘Flyering’. This is a strategy sometimes used by agents to leave flyers on homes their buyers might be interested in asking if the homeowner would consider selling. The truth is…you don’t need an agent to do this! As a self-represented buyer, you are able to utilize these same strategies if you see a home you think could be just the one for you. This can be a great way to get ahead of other bidders before the home even goes on the market. The homeowner can also save by selling to you without an agent – with help from Bōde!
So… How Do I Find a Home?
On Bōde you can buy any home on realtor.ca without an agent – for free! Our marketplace allows buyers to filter by location, price range, home style, and more. Start browsing and find your perfect home.
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Bōde has created a marketplace to allow you to get transparent home data, set your price, and list your home on MLS (and 30+ more). We will advertise your home and walk you through the whole sale process for 1%, only when the home sells.
With your free Bōde account, you don’t need an agent – you are completely in charge of your home sale and get to keep more of the money you invested in your home!
