Tips on Negotiating Your Real Estate Sales Agreement

1. Typically no party gets everything that they want. Focus on what is most important and be willing to find a mutually acceptable accommodation.
2. Read the “par” (Pennsylvania Association of Realtors) agreement of sale in advance. Once negotiations start, they tend to move rapidly and a good understanding of the options will increase the likelihood of you making good decisions.
3. The price offered is only one of the terms. Other important considerations for you may be whether or not the agreement contains contingencies for home, radon, pest, lead based paint, mortgage approval or home sale.
4. Take an unbiased view of your property. An excellent way to help you get that view is to obtain an appraisal from a licensed real estate appraiser.
5. Keep in mind your goal ( to sell your home) and your exposure ( how far away is your "acceptable price" from the offer at hand).
6. Have all of the typical inspections done when you list your home. This will provide you with unbiased information on the condition of the house and help in negotiations with potential buyers.
7. Time is critical in some instances. Be prepared to respond immediately and negotiate to a conclusion. And generally, a contract must be signed by all parties and changes initialed to be valid.
8. Be aware that the home inspection is used by buyers often to renegotiate the sales price. If you know of any problem you may want to address it up front and exclude it from being subject to the inspection contingency.
9. Just because a buyer’s offer does not contain a contingency to sell their home, doesn’t mean that their mortgage approval won’t come back with that requirement. Take care to address that possibility up front.
10. Sellers are not typically prohibited from taking back up offers in the event that negotiations break down or something unforeseen happens that prevents closing with the first buyers.
11. Negotiating repairs due to a home inspection contingency is made more difficult when the sale is contingent upon the sale of the buyer’s current residence.
12. In general, shorter is better. Therefore, when negotiating time frames such as the time to do inspections or the time for the buyer to obtain mortgage approval, try to obtain the shortest period possible that is realistic. Try also to negotiate that as each contingency is met, the buyer agrees to sign an addendum removing the contingency. Again, this is not always possible but the fewer the contingencies, the less likely that the sale will not close.
13. Always attempt to have independent facts when negotiating the sales price of your home. Review the sales prices of comparable homes in your area that have sold in the last 6-12 months as well as what homes are currently on the market.  These represent your competition.