Are you thinking about selling your Kansas City house? Before you list or sell it on your own, you should have your negotiation strategy in place. Always try to be one step ahead of your buyers.
When selling your house, use concrete facts about the home to set the selling price and proper expectations. You’ll also want to know any issues that the buyers may use as ammunition to try and lower the price. In our latest post we go over negotiation tips for selling your home.
Negotiation Tips for Selling Your Home in Kansas City
1. Inspect First, List Later
Having an inspection done before potential buyers see your home can be extremely beneficial to get your asking price without any haggle. Getting an inspection on the property will cost you less than $400 usually, and it will tell you all of the issues with the property that are likely to come up during the buyer’s inspection. You can then fix these issues to avoid them causing you problems during the negotiations.
2. Consider Throwing in Extras
Let’s say someone had toured your home, commenting on how nicely everything is set-up. You are pretty certain this person is interested, however, they seem to be on the fence. You could offer to throw in furniture, (or certain pieces) in with the house!
Don’t limit yourself here as the options are limitless. Perhaps there is an old car in the garage, boat or riding lawnmower that you can throw in with the property. It could also be a gift such as a gift card to a flooring store or just $1000 prepaid visa card. Relatively small tokens such as this can bring an offer out of a buyer.
3. Don’t Be Emotional
Before you even get started down the path to sell your property, decide what the absolute lowest price you will accept for the home is. Try to remove the emotional attachment to the home and don’t set the price too high. But once you’ve established this price, don’t sell for less than that. In case you don’t get the offer you want just wait. Perhaps the price is too high for the local market conditions. Have a backup plan.
In sales terms, they call it “BATNA.” This stands for “best alternative to a negotiated agreement.” Let’s say you don’t get the offer you want, have a plan in place to rent the home out for 1 year and try again. If you are prepared with an alternative, you won’t end up selling your house for less than it’s worth. Plus, it will keep you in control. You never want to appear desperate to sell.
4. Facilitate a Bidding War
If you are fairly confident your house will receive many offers, you might choose to let buyers know you will be “reviewing all bids at 5 pm on Friday.” This will create a bit of a buzz. People will want to outbid each other knowing there will be competition, so you will likely receive higher offers. If your house isn’t primed to receive many offers, this strategy isn’t for you. You are better off checking out each offer as it comes in.
5. Learn About The Buyer
To help your negotiations go more smoothly take a little time to learn about the personal lives and motivations of the buyers. Why are they moving? What timeframe do they need to move by? Are they interested in the local schools for their children? Perhaps you can play up how safe the neighborhood is. What are their favorite sports team? By starting your negotiation off with a friendly and interested tone, potential buyers are likely to associate positive emotions with you and the property. This will make them more likely to place an offer.
When it comes to selling your Kansas City house, you can always expect for there to be some haggling. If you are prepared and keep yourself one step ahead, you will be more likely to get your listing price!