7 Negotiating Tips for Selling Your House in Austin, TX

As a homeowner, you probably spent a fair amount of time and energy to find the right home when you bought it. You likely looked online, drove by houses, or even arranged showings so you could the insides. 

Buying a home is a big investment and you want to get it right. So, selling your house is equally a big deal. Of course, when you are on this side of the equation, finding a way to get the sale and the most money for your house is the most important thing to you. 

In April 2020, 623,000 homes were sold across the US, so you have lots of competition when it comes to finding the right buyers who will give you a fair house price. 

As the seller, there’s a lot of pressure to present your house in the best light so you can land a buyer. Coping with the selling process can be overwhelming when you are ready to move on.

Read on for tips to negotiate the best deal when selling your house.

1. Price Your House Right

Of course, there is the price you want to get when you sell your house. There’s the price you think people should be willing to pay. 

Yet, that may not be the price that it will sell for when it hits the market. One way to garner interest in your home is to make sure you price it right when you list it. 

As a seller, this means you need to take the advice of your realtor who is the home selling expert. Have your realtor show you similar houses in the area and what they have sold for. 

To garner a quick sale, you want to price it so buyers come looking. Price your house based on what the market will support versus what amount you want to get from the sale.

2. Try to Create a Bidding War

Now, this might only work if the housing market is hot in your area or houses in your neighborhood typically sell quickly. 

Tell your realtor to make part of the listing you will not entertain any offers until after an open house is held. Of course, you want to make sure the open house can happen relatively quickly after listing it. 

When you have an open house and many people can view the house in a short period of time, you create a sense of urgency in the buyers. 

If a buyer sees your house and really wants it, they know many others have likely seen it too. They also know you won’t look at any offers until after the open house. This means they need to put in an offer knowing they might be competing with others.

3. Consider the First Offer

There are many experts who believe you should look closely at the first offer you get for your house. It is often the best one you will get. It’s often a good indicator of what amount the market will support. 

You might need to sell your house quickly. Maybe you are going through a divorce, are moving out of state, or even have bought a new house already. 

Again, consider the housing market in your area. You may not get another offer as good as this one. You might wait a long time for another offer. 

The first offer might give you some valuable information about whether you have accurately priced your house to sell too.

4. Let the House Do the Work

Now there might be times when a house is not in the best condition and needs a little polish before hitting the market. 

There are also those overzealous sellers who want to showcase all the things they have done to a house. There’s no way to know if those things will resonate with a buyer. 

Clean your house well. Get rid of clutter and create some curb appeal. If you need some simple home repairs done before selling, you can do that too. But let your home do the work in convincing another person it’s the right home for them.

5. Countering and Rejecting Offers

Entertaining an offer from a potential buyer is a little like playing poker. Once you have the offer, you have a few choices:

• Accept the offer
• Reject the offer
• Counter the offer

This is where you need to rely on the expertise of your realtor. Many buyers will put in an offer on the low end knowing the seller is likely to counter. Then they could counter again. 

You could also counter with the selling price hoping they will come back with a more realistic second offer. 

6. Leave the Emotions Out of It

Leaving your emotions out of the equation can be particularly hard for a seller. it’s your home and you have feelings about what you think the house should be worth. 

It can also be hard to not feel insulted if the offer is so much lower than you think it should be. 

Make every effort to use data from other sales in the area to drive your decision making and keep it realistic. Remember, the buyer is also hoping to land the best deal too. 

7. Think Creatively

You might find that you and a buyer can’t come to an agreement on a price. Maybe they want you to go lower than you are willing to go. 

But you can do some things to sweeten the deal. Maybe you offer a price and consider paying closing costs or throwing in the riding lawn mower or some furniture. 

Maybe they will agree to the little higher price you hoped to get when you sweeten the deal with window treatments or some appliances. 

Tips for Selling Your House

Selling your house can be a lot of worry and stress. Will you find a buyer? Will you get the right amount for your house? 

Use these tips to help you negotiate the best price to get the sale handled. 

If you want to skip all these steps and get your house sold quickly, we can help. We buy Austin houses with no hassles all the time. Take a look at the easy process to get your house sold today.