Perhaps the most costly mistake that sellers make is becoming too emotionally invested in the home sale process. Once the sign goes in the front yard, all decisions regarding the house should be made on an impersonal investment level and not an emotional level.
“I paid $_____ for that upgrade, don’t they know what its worth.” The buyer may or may not know what it cost you to install (fill in the blank) but it may not be something that is valuable to them. Upgrades and additions to your home are sometimes taste specific and you cannot count on getting a dollar for dollar return on every home improvement you make.
“The house hasn’t been listed long enough to accept an offer.” And, “We obviously listed the house too low if we got an offer already.” These are two of my favorites. Ask someone who has had their house for sale for 6 months if they wished they'd received a quick offer. The point of listing the home for sale is to sell the home. If I were selling my home, Id rather sell it for full price on day 5 than day 35. When a seller receives an offer early on in the sales process, it means that the home was priced right and in demand. Trust me when I say that coming to an amicable agreement for sale early on in the process benefits everyone involved.
“We aren’t even going to even respond to that offer.” Lowball offers are one of the most sensitive issues with sellers. The fact of the matter that is that in real estate, like every profession, there are professionals and there are amateurs. Amateur agents are either not skilled enough or confident enough to advise their buyer clients on how to present appropriate offers. Couple that with the current misconception amongst buyers that prices are falling and you have a recipe for the occasional low ball offer.
The most important thing to remember in any offer situation is that it’s a negotiation. Sometimes a buyer will submit a low offer to try and gauge seller motivation. You should respond to all offers one way or another. If your Realtor has done his/her job in educating you about the market activity in your neighborhood then you should have a very good idea about the value of your home. Therefore, you negotiate from a position of confidence that a qualified buyer will come along in the near future. However, if lowball offers become the norm and not the exception, it might be time to reassess your asking price.
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