BAM! Another Buyer under contract for LESS THAN LISTING PRICE! I negotiated $60,000 off the purchase price of this classic north Everett home for my Buyer client.  Here’s some important take-aways for both Buyers and Sellers:

1. LESSON ONE: You can’t overprice your home. If the seller had listed this home for $575,000, they would have had a bidding war and probably sold for $625,000 and maybe even got to their list price of $650,000. Instead, they tried to get the bidding war price without doing the bidding war process.
2. LESSON TWO: The more flaws the home has, the more important staging is.  Like many classic homes, this one has some issues that need to be addressed (floor needs to be leveled and refinished, the kitchen is worn, no refrigerator, the electrical system needs some updates, some windows don’t open, etc.)  The sellers chose to show the home vacant without staging.  Staging distracts the eye from flaws. Without staging, all the flaws become glaringly obvious. Also, staging gets buyers emotionally attached to the home which is imperative if you want a bidding war.
3. LESSON THREE: Seller-provided pre-inspections are great — if you fix things before going on the market! This seller had pre-inspections available for the buyers (sewer and home inspection), but they did not fix any of the items called out by the inspector.  So in effect, you are handing the buyer a list of things that are wrong with the house.  Not the best strategy to get multiple offers!

1. LESSON ONE: Homes that need some work are opportunities. Many buyers do not have the ability or financial means to fix up a home, so the competition on these homes is reduced.
2. LESSON TWO: Overpriced homes are opportunities, especially if you have any type of financing challenges. My buyers had 5% down, which would make it difficult to compete with other buyers who had larger down payments.  We were the only buyer that was willing to make an offer in the 12 days the home was on the market, so the seller was willing to engage in negotiations resulting in getting $60,000 off the purchase price!
3. LESSON THREE: You need an experienced broker to negotiate a lower price.  I wrote a 460-word letter explaining what my buyers love about the home, their financial qualifications, how they have owned two classic homes before, and why our offer price was lower than the asking price, providing a laundry list of items that need to be fixed.  This was not a “love letter” written by the buyer, but a calculated piece of salesmanship to convince the seller to accept our offer.

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