When selling your home, the price you agree on with a buyer, along with the real estate commissions you paꦯy, will determine how much money you walk away with.

Strong negotiating strategies can help you get the best price when selling your home. Regardless of the strategies you use, it's important to do your homework and know the value of your home and how your local market impacts that value.

1. Counter at Your List Price

As a seller, you probably won’t want to accept a potential buyer’s initial bid on your home if it’s below your asking price. Buyers usually expect a back-and-f𒁏orth negotiation, so their initial offer will often be lower than your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:list price—but it may also be lower than what they’re actually willing to pay.

Most sellers will make a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:counteroffer with a price that’s higher, but still below their list price, because they’re afraid of losing the potenti🥀al sale. They want to seem fl🍃exible and willing to negotiate to close the deal. This strategy can work in terms of getting the property sold, as thousands of sellers can attest, but it’s not always the best way to get top dollar.

Instead of dropping your price, counter by sticking to your listed 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:purchase price. Someone who really wants to buy๊ will remain engaged and come back to you with a higher offer. Assuming that you’ve priced your property fairly to begin with, countering at your list price says that♍ you know what your property is worth and you intend to get the money you deserve.

Buyers may be surprised, and some will be turned off by your unwillingness to negotiate. You do risk having a buyer walk away when you use this strategy. However, you’ll also avoid wasting time on buyers who make lowball offers a🃏nd won’t close any deal unless they can get a bargaiﷺn.

2. Reject the Offer

Another tactic to negotiating is rejecting the buyer’s offer without giving a counteroffer. To keep buyers interested, you can ask them 𒐪to submit a new offer.

This strategy sends a signal that you believe your property is worth what you’re asking for it. If th꧃e buyer resubmits, they may make a higher offer if they really want the property—or they may submit the same offer or even a lower offer.

When you don’t counter, you’re not ethically locked into a negotiation with a particular buyer, and you can accept a higher offer if it comes along. For the buyer, knowing that someone may make a better offer at any moment creates pressure to submit a more competitive offer quickly if they really want the property. This strategy can be particularly useful if the property has only been on the market for a short time or if you have an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:open house coming up. 

3. Try to Create a Bidding War

When you hold 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:open houses, youไ can increase competition among buyers. After listing the home on the🐼 market and making it available to be shown, schedule an open house for a few days later. Refuse to entertain any offers until after the open house.

Potential buyers wil𓃲l expect to be in competition and may place higher offers as a result. If you get multiple offers, you can go back to t♔he top bidders and ask for their highest and best offers. Of course, the open house may yield only one offer, but the party offering it won’t know that, so you’ll have an edge going forward with counteroffers.

4. Put an Expiration Date on Your Counteroffer

Putting an expiration date on your counter offers compels buyers to decide sooner, so you can either get your home under contract or move on. Don’t make the deadline so short that the buyer is turned off, but consider making it shorter than the default time frame in your state’s standard real estate contract. If the default expiration is three days, you might shorten it to one or two days.

While the counteroffer is outstanding, your home is effectively of𓃲f the market. Many buyers won’t submit an offer when another negotiation is underway. And if the deal falls through, you’ve added time to the official number of days your home has been on the market. The more days your home is on the market, the less desirable it appears, and the more likely you are to have to lower your asking price to get a buyer.

It is the seller’s prerogative to disclose or not disclose whether they are involved in negotiations with prospective buyers. Disclosure can result in higher offers, but it can also frighten off a buyer. The seller is legally allowed to counter more than one offer at the same time, but they must include appropriate language letting all the parties know of the situation.

5. Agree to Pay Closing Costs

In a common practice, buyers may ask the seller to pay their closing costs. These costs can amount to about 3% of the purchase price. Some buyers don't have the cash to close the deal without assistance with closing costs, by they may be able to afford to take out a slightly larger mortgage.

When a buyer submits an offer and asks you to pay the closing costs, you can counter with your willingness to pay but at an increased purchase price, even if it's above your list price.

The Bottom Line

You can turn to several negotiating strategies to help you get the best price for your home, but the right strategy for you will depend on your local hou🍃sing market and your property. Of course, the home also needs to show well and be in good condition. If buyers aren’t excited about the property you’re offering, they will be less willing to negotiate. A realtor can help you determine the best ways to sell yo💞ur home for the best price.