When selling your home by private treaty sale, the process ultimately comes down to the final sale price. Looking at the sale of your property as a transaction and understanding the negotiation that comes with it will help ensure you’re prepared in order to achieve the highest possible price.
Negotiation is an art. It requires skill, a lot of patience, and most importantly – knowledge. Fortunately, even the most inexperienced negotiator can quickly master this art with a few accessible strategies for selling their property.
Here are ten strategies that can help maximise your sale price.
1. Don’t lower your asking price
If you receive a low offer on your home, it may be tempting to counter the potential buyer with a number that is also lower than your initial asking price. Some people view this as meeting the buyer half-way in the hopes of making the sale.
Keep in mind, most first offers are not the buyer’s highest possible offer. When you counteroffer, stick with your original asking price and force the buyer to raise their offer, rather than lowering your own.
2. Keep the conversation open
Don’t shut down the option for negotiation with a potential buyer simply because you feel insulted by a low offer. Use it as an opportunity to negotiate a better price and easier settlement conditions.
3. Be informed and realistic with your expectations
Every seller wants to walk away with a profit, and every purchaser wants to walk away with a deal. Often, only one prevails. When aiming to get the highest sale price, researching the market for comparable properties will prove to be invaluable for your bargaining power.
Ask questions such as: Is your property located in an ideal location, or is it a sought-after type of dwelling? Being aware of the value of your home and other properties in the area will mean that you don’t have to bring your expectations down, and you can hold steady for the highest bid.
4. Consider your need to sell
The person with the greatest need holds the least amount of bargaining power. Before entering into any negotiations, you should be fully aware of your circumstances and selling position.
Do you need to sell quickly to the first decent bidder, or do you have time to wait for a reasonable offer? By determining the level of your need to sell, you will be able to enter negotiations without being swayed by pressure.
5. Be honest without oversharing
It’s acceptable to disclose that your need to sell stems from pursuing other ventures or looking to purchase a property that better suits your needs. Be wary, however, of informing a potential seller of hardships such as a partner dissolution. Even well-intentioned buyers will view this as an opportunity to make a low offer.
Regardless of your situation, you want to appear open to negotiation but not desperate for a sale.
6. Sell with your head, not your heart
Selling or buying a home is often an emotional experience. For you, the seller, it is crucial to understand that a buyer looking for their forever home is likely buying from an emotional place. To maintain control of negotiations, you must remove your own emotions.
By taking your memories out of your asking price, you will not only be able to determine a realistic amount that you wish to sell for but you will be able to accept, reject, or make a counteroffer with confidence.
7. Make your own requests
When discussing the price that you are willing to accept, don’t forget that you aren’t the only one who may have to make concessions. For example, if you agree to a number that is lower than your initial asking price and need to sell quickly, request a shorter settlement or cooling-off period.
8. Add value to the property
Not all negotiation applies strictly to money but rather the value that the buyer perceives they are receiving in the transaction. This strategy requires listening to the prospective buyer. Are they offering less money because of easy repairs or outdated features of the home? Often, the cost of these deductions add up to be much less than how much they have taken off your asking price.
If the discussion is purely cosmetic, include the repairs in your counteroffer. There are many simple ways to add value to your home. For example, adding an updated air conditioning unit. The fix may cost a fraction of the amount the buyer may deduct.
9. Consider using a professional
Consider using your agent to negotiate a price you’re happy with for the sale. By removing yourself from the negotiations, this may result in the best possible price.
10. Negotiate with confidence
If you already have a competing offer, you’re in an ideal position to maximise your sale price from another interested party. Not all sellers are fortunate to have more than one potential buyer. A Brickfloor Market Price Guarantee ensures you have a competing offer at the start of your selling process. You can use this offer as leverage – resisting low offers and seeking to extract higher offers from the market.
Find out how we can help you
Speak to Brickfloor today regarding a Market Price Guarantee, or See How It Works. Know a homeowner who may benefit from Brickfloor’s Market Price Guarantee? Contact us to refer a friend and you will receive $1,000 cash if they take up a Market Price Guarantee.
