contract, you are legally bound to see the process through, until you and the buyer close the deal or agree to cancel the contract. This means you can’t take a higher offer if one comes along. However, there’s a way you can counteract this problem. You can set yourself up for a higher selling price and a shorter waiting time. To help sell your home quickly for the most money possible, put an expiration date on your counteroffer. It means you give your bidder a certain amount of time to either accept or reject your terms. This benefits your outcome in a couple of ways. I encourage you to be reasonable. The last thing you want to do is turn your buyer off by making the timeframe too short, particularly if their current offer isn’t far from your ideal price. However, feel free to go below the standard time used in your state. If the typical deadline is three days, make yours two. The potential buyers will know you mean business — but that you also recognize this is a life-changing decision for them, as well as for yourself. There’s another reason to expedite these contracts, besides quickly closing a deal or being free to negotiate with other buyers. The longer your home is on the market, the less desirable it appears to potential buyers. If the deal falls through, you’ve extended the number of days your home has been on the market. Valuable time has been wasted. By shortening that time, you shorten your overall number of marketed days if this deal doesn’t go through.
NEGOTIATION TECHNIQUE #5: Pay the Piper, but Raise the Price
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