Belle Oberbrunner Negotiating a Sales Agreement: Should You Go For a Better Price or Better Terms? Some agents think of the sales agreement as having two major parts. The first part is simply the price, the amount to be paid for the property. It occupies only a single line on the document. The second part, however, refers … Read more
Negotiating a Sales Agreement: The Deposit The deposit is a part of the negotiations since it indicates the depth of the buyer’s sincerity in making the deal. The buyer is presumably sincere, hence the correct term, earnest money deposit. However, there is no reason why a deal cannot be completed without a deposit. But a … Read more
Negotiating a Sales Agreement: The Financing Contingency As we saw in the opening example, negotiating strict time-limit contingencies on the buyer for obtaining needed financing should help protect the seller. These days sellers are always concerned (with some good reason) about buyers who talk a good deal, but later can’t come up with the money. … Read more
Negotiating a Sales Agreement: Dealing with Time Time can also be a deal point. In post 2, we saw why time was important as a negotiating tool. Now we’ll consider a specific application of time in the sales agreement: the date of occupancy. When—the exact date—the seller turns the home over to the buyer is … Read more
Negotiating a Sales Agreement: Other Contingencies I used to know a builder who always said, “1 don’t care what the sales agreement says, as long as there’s a ‘subject to’ in it.” He was, of course, referring to a contingency clause, a condition that said the sale was subject to the occurrence of some action … Read more
Negotiating a Sales Agreement: The Final Walk-Through Most sales agreements today provide for a final walk-through by the buyer, usually the day before the deal closes (when title transfers, the seller gets the money, and the buyer gets the house). The reason this walk-through came about, as have so many other things in real estate, … Read more
Negotiate the Commission: How Does the Commission Impact the Agent’s Role in Selling? What does an agent do for you? A good active real estate agent who makes a concerted effort to sell your property will do the following. Besides the obvious sales tools such as placing advertising in news papers, holding open houses, putting … Read more
Negotiate the Commission: Will You Get What You Pay For? At the onset, it’s important to keep track of what you want out of listing your house with an agent. While, of course, you want to pay as little as you can, on the other hand you also want to sell your property as soon … Read more
Negotiate the Commission I have a good friend who to this day is fond of recalling the first time he ever listed a house with an agent. “She came in, we talked a little while, and then she said she wanted a 7 percent commission. I was flabbergasted. I knew that other agents in the … Read more
Walk Away a Winner: Sellers – Stick to Your Guns In a hot market, as a seller you want to get the highest price you can. That means using a variety of strategies, some sound . . . some not so sound. First off, however, you need to know just what your home is worth. … Read more
