How to Negotiate With Buyers When Selling Your Own Home

For many homeowners, negotiation is the part of selling privately that causes the most concern.

You may feel perfectly comfortable preparing your home, organising photography, answering enquiries and conducting inspections.

But what happens when someone says:

“We’d like to make an offer.”

Suddenly the conversation feels very different.

When you are selling your own home without an agent, you are the person who will consider the buyer’s offer and make the decisions about your sale.

That doesn’t mean you need to become a hard-nosed negotiator.

It means being prepared.

Know Your Position Before an Offer Arrives

The worst time to decide what matters to you is in the middle of an emotional conversation with an interested buyer.

Think about your position beforehand.

What outcome are you hoping to achieve?

What information will you need before making a decision?

What factors other than price may be relevant to your circumstances?

Having thought through these questions beforehand can help you respond more calmly when an offer is made.

Listen Before You Respond

If a buyer makes an offer, resist the temptation to immediately fill the silence.

Listen carefully.

Make sure you understand what is actually being proposed and avoid making assumptions about matters that should be confirmed.

An offer is information.

You don’t necessarily need to make an immediate decision simply because a buyer would like an answer.

Don’t Take a Low Offer Personally

Your home is personal to you.

An offer isn’t.

A buyer may begin below the amount they are ultimately prepared to pay. They may have their own budget limitations or simply be testing your position.

Whatever their reasoning, becoming offended rarely helps.

Stay calm and focus on the transaction rather than treating the offer as somebody’s assessment of the value of your home to you.

Price Isn’t Necessarily the Only Consideration

The amount offered is obviously important, but a property transaction can involve other terms and circumstances too.

This is where your solicitor or conveyancer becomes particularly important.

If a buyer proposes conditions or arrangements that may have legal implications, obtain advice from the professional handling the legal side of your sale before agreeing to them.

You Are Allowed to Think

Selling your home is a major financial decision.

You don’t need to make important decisions simply because somebody is waiting for an answer.

Take the time you reasonably need to consider the offer, seek appropriate professional advice and decide what is right for you.

Remaining in control is one of the principal reasons many homeowners choose to sell their home privately in the first place.

Keep Communication Clear and Professional

Negotiation doesn’t need to be confrontational.

Clear, courteous communication can go a long way.

Listen carefully, ask questions when something isn’t clear and avoid saying something you don’t mean simply to keep the conversation moving.

Professionalism is every bit as important in a private sale as it is in an agent-managed transaction.

Understand the Boundary Between Guidance and Representation

This is an important part of the Empower You to Sell Your Home model.

Madeline D’Anastasi does not negotiate with buyers on your behalf.

You remain the seller and you make the decisions.

What Madeline can provide is education, preparation and guidance to help you understand the selling process and approach conversations with greater knowledge and confidence.

That distinction is important because the purpose of Madeline’s service isn’t to take your sale away from you.

It is to empower you to manage it.

Preparation Creates Confidence

You don’t need years of real estate experience to have a sensible conversation with an interested buyer.

But having someone with decades of experience help you understand the process before those conversations occur can make an enormous difference.

With Madeline’s one-to-one guidance and your solicitor or conveyancer handling the appropriate legal aspects of the transaction, you can remain where you wanted to be from the beginning:

in control of your own sale.