When you’ve landed upon the property that you really want, what is the best way to go about making an offer?
Property Observer says to work out how much you should offer on a property, the best way is to research how much similar homes in the same area have sold for recently.
If you’re buying the property at auction, the bid is the offer. Prospective buyers compete during the auction, and if the reserve price is met, the highest bid wins the property.
On the other hand, if it’s a private sale, you’re going to have to make an offer either verbally o0r in writing to the real estate agent.
Offers and counter offers can go back and forth many times before an agreement is reached and Property Observer have given a handy set of tips for the negotiating process.
1. The best way to approach making the offer is to appear positive and confident without being overly keen. If you’re overly keen the agent might smell it and think they can get more out of you.
2. Offer slightly less than your top price. This gives you room to negotiate but this may not be applicable if the property market is hot and the vendor is already taking other offers from other buyers.
3. Keep your cards to your chest and don’t let the agent know how much you can afford. Again, this may spark them to try and push the price higher.
4. Learn as much as you can about the seller’s situation to give you any leverage possible. A good example is if you find out they want a quick sale, you might be able to negotiate a lower price in exchange for a shorter settlement period.
One final tip from Property Observer is to make sure you review the contract for sale before making the offer, and preferably by a lawyer, and after that any changes to the contract can be requested before the deal is done.
