Don’t offend me with your offer
I was at a meeting earlier today where a listing agent was complaining about the offering price of two “low ball” offers on the same property. The offers were so low, his sellers wouldn’t counter them. The agent knew in advance they were going to be low ball offers. He therefore, warned his sellers they would be getting multiple low ball offers.
Real estate agents listen up, say goodbye to the term “low ball offer”. Hear me now- an offer is an offer. I don’t care if it is thirty percent under the asking price. An offer is an offer. By using the term low ball offer, we are setting ourselves and our clients up for the fact that it is not a real offer.
Deals are not happening because agents are afraid to write offers. Deals are not happening because agents are afraid to present offers. The job of a real estate agent is to make deals happen, not prevent them.
What is an offer? A starting point for negotiation. Pure and simple. I have found that most buyers are willing to pay more than they offer, even when they tell me it is their highest and best offer. Often times, sellers will take less than they say is their absolute bottom price. Sometimes they won’t (or can’t), but you don’t know and they don’t know until you get into negotiations.
Regardless of what people say, you don’t know how much a buyer will be willing to pay nor how much a seller is willing to sell for until until you start to negotiate.
Agents have gotten lazy
Agents have gotten lazy over the last few years. They haven’t needed to negotiate. The listing agent would throw up a sign and waits for offers. The buyer’s agent would wait to hear how many other offers are coming in and then see who can win the contest- almost like an auction, blindly throwing out bids.
It is time for real estate agents to start working. Get off your chair and make deals happen. Don’t be afraid to write an offer. Be reasonable, be smart, but get your buyers to write an offer.
Don’t position your under asking price offer as a low ball offer. Is your client serious? Are they qualified? Can they perform? If so, it is a real offer, a starting point for negotiations. Listing agents- prepare your clients that they should expect that any offers will be under asking. You can’t tell them how much under asking that might be- the market and the buyers will tell them that, but explain -IN ADVANCE- that it is always a good idea to try and negotiate on ANY offer.
What is an offer? A starting point for negotiation. Pure and simple. Start negotiations and you might find you have put together a deal.
