Why Would a Buyer Want a Counteroffer?
In before post, we discussed how much to offer for a property. We were talking about making a serious offer that the seller would accept. In a great many instances where a deal is actually made, die seller’s counter contains only minor changes. However, sometimes as a buyer you may not really expect the seller to accept your offer. Indeed, you may make a “lowball” offer that’s so far below the asking price or contains such inferior terms that you know no reasonable seller will accept it. Why would a buyer make such an offer to a seller?
The reason is that the buyer may want a counteroffer back from the seller. There are many reasons for wanting a counteroffer including:
Reasons for Wanting a Counteroffer
- The seller has an unrealistically high asking price. By making an unrealistically low offer, you, the buyer, hope to compromise somewhere in between.
- You simply can’t afford anywhere near what the seller is asking. So you offer something close to your maximum, hoping the seller will be desperate enough to counter near your offer.
- You simply want to “steal” the property. When the seller counters, you’ll again offer close to your initial low price, hoping that by now the seller will be discouraged enough to accept.
- You simply want to get the negotiations opened. Once offers are flying through the air, you hope to learn enough about the seller to determine the best price you can get.