So, your Sarasota real estate agent brought you an offer!
The offer was $45,000 less than your asking price of
$250,000. What do you do?
Here's what I think. I think you need to look at the whole
picture. If you've been on the market for awhile and have had
little activity and no offers, then you really need to take a hard
look at this offer. If you've been on the market for awhile
(over 3 months) and you've had a lot of activity, but no offers,
you STILL need to take a hard look at this offer.
Ask yourself these questions:
1. How would my life change if I took this offer.
2. Would I be able to purchase another
home?
3. Would I be able to put money in the
bank?
4. Is my quality of
life going to change for the better? i.e., no more yardwork,
less worries, freedom to travel, etc
You need to look at all
aspects of your offer and not just the price. Are the buyers
strong financially? How much are they putting in
escrow. I think you need at least 5% in escrow for properties
under $300,000 and on more expensive properties, 10% would make a
stronger offer. I've seen offers come in with only 1% or 2%
and I always negotiate that up for my sellers. The reason is,
the more a buyer puts in escrow, the less likely he's going to walk
away from the deal.
Other things you need to
look for...who's paying for the title insurance? Did you know
that is negotiable? Whoever is paying for the Title Insurance
is the one who chooses the closing agent.
Are the buyers requesting
any furniture or appliance that you didn't want to give up?
Are they relocating from another town?
Ask your Realtor what the
buyer's motivation is? Did they just get married? Are they
getting ready to retire? Many times, the answers to these
questions will help you decide whether to counter offer, or just
accept the price as is.
Always remember, once you
change anything in an offer, the offer is no longer valid.
Call me any time
Nicki
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