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What if you are acting as a dual agent? How would you handle it then?
I never act as a dual agent so I don't worry about it. Agents at my company have to agree to not be dual agents. My company is a bit different in that agents are all principal brokers so we can work in-house together without dual agency.
No matter what, be polite and cordial, thankful for the offer. Not "insulted".
Sometimes it's best for a seller to just say "thanks, but no thanks". No counter. And then I explain to the agent that the offer is so far below the home value that the seller is not willing to counter because we don't know if the buyer is just out fishing or what.
Other times, we "counter" just a smidgen below list price. A token amount below, and try to start a conversation. I've seen low offers come up pretty quick.
Rarely, and I don't advise this, but if the seller is highly motivated, we just jump to seller's bottom line and make a "take it or leave it" counter. I don't like this approach, but it can in fact be the right move in certain limited situtations. Generally though, I think it's dumb for a seller to reveal bottom dollar just because a low offer is made.
When sending a low offer for a buyer, I just try to be honest with the listing agent. "We know this is below market. The buyer is looking for a good value, but is able to offer a quick close, no repairs, and any other terms, such as a lease-back, that your seller may value more than a higher price". Sometime timing and terms are in fact more valuable to a seller than a higher price, and it's important to know that.
I was pretty offended by a low ball 15% below list price. I had priced $2-3 sqaure foot higher than the selling price as the previously closed within the past 90 days. These were recent comps I priced my home. All these homes closed already.
I didn't give myself very little wiggle room. But in the end the buyer went up on their offer to 97% of my list price. I sold home in 33 days. I knew I was priced competitively plus we had the bigger corner lot.
So I almost didn't even want to counter the low ball offer. But as my realtor said. "it just opens up negotiations". And in the end glad I took her advice.
Sometimes it's best for a seller to just say "thanks, but no thanks". No counter.
And then I explain to the agent that the offer is so far below the home value that the seller is
not willing to counter because we don't know if the buyer is just out fishing or what.
When the OBJECTIVE facts can support this... fine.
The question (as I'm reading it) is about when the objective facts do NOT support that.
iow: a horse of a different color.
Countering the offer will tell you whether you're dealing with tire kickers or serious buyers. If they don't counter, you'll know they weren't serious in the first place. If they do, let the negotiations continue, hopefully to a successful deal.
I was pretty offended by a low ball 15% below list price. I had priced $2-3 sqaure foot higher than the selling price as the previously closed within the past 90 days. These were recent comps I priced my home. All these homes closed already.
I didn't give myself very little wiggle room. But in the end the buyer went up on their offer to 97% of my list price. I sold home in 33 days. I knew I was priced competitively plus we had the bigger corner lot.
So I almost didn't even want to counter the low ball offer. But as my realtor said. "it just opens up negotiations". And in the end glad I took her advice.
What do you listing agents advise your sellers when a lowball is received? I often see sellers not counter an offer they consider too low. My take is that every offer is an invitation to begin negotiations unless the buyer stated "take it or leave it". I have been involved in sales that started with a crazy lowball offer but ultimately landed at a much higher price. Unless the asking price is "not a penny less" is it ever in a seller's best interest to simply ignore a low offer?
Any offer is just a starting point for negotiations.
I think it depends on what you consider a lowball offer. I had a listing a couple of months ago that was about $200k and an offer came in for $56k. Is that a serious offer? Is that even a "starting point"? No, that offer didn't require a counter of any kind.
Then, there are sellers that think anything below $5k off their asking is a lowball. That is where it's the agent's job to help the seller understand what is going on and to help them with their counter response back.
Unless the offer is completely and totally off base, a seller should respond to every offer.
Look at it as a bouncing ball. Back and forth - offer, counter-offer.
As long as the ball is still bouncing, you are still in the game.
There is no reason to immediately stop the bouncing just because you didn't like the first bounce. You dont know what the others will look like.
Also keep in mind the first bounces are usually larger, then they get smaller and smaller.
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