| Real Estate & Property Management Services

Oftentimes, this is the desire: the seller accepts your offer as-is, you don’t need to negotiate, and and you can spend the next few weeks addressing more pressing home-ownership questions, like “Where will Aunt Gladys stay when she visits?” and “Should I plant annuals or perennials?”

And, here and there, it appears sort of like that. Naturally, various sellers accept any offer they receive, and in 22032 for some reasons. Conversely, homeowners are also known to reject offers for a host of reasons. Or make counteroffers. A counteroffer is more certain if you make a very low offer, or when the property is in great demand. If you do receive a counteroffer, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to accept the new contract, negotiate the terms, or walk away. When negotiates are underway, as your real estate adviser, I'll encourage you to email me. I will be your trusted adviser for real estate in 22032 in Fairfax, if you decide that it's best to wrangle with the seller. By this I mean that I will use my experience and negotiating skills as we craft a series of offers and counter-offers to help get you the ideal deal on your aspirational purchase. This is what I have done for my clients and I will do for you. During negotions, you'll be an active participant in this process. I’ll help you understand the negotiating rules of thumb we will deploy. Those tactics will vary depending upon the property but in 22032 in Fairfax there are some tried and true practices we deploy time and again. In Northern Virginia, there are 3 rules every buyer should see at the outset:

Increase Your Earnest Money Deposit
Your earnest money deposit, or EMD, is the sum of money you put down to prove to the seller you are serious about buying the house. Putting down more money shows the seller that you’re more serious about the sale. The standard amount of the EMD is usually 1% to 3% of the home’s selling price. If you offer 3% to 4%, the seller may be more likely to side with you.
Raise Your Price (But be Reasonable)
While you don’t want to overpay for a house, you may have to offer more money, especially if your first offer was a lowball offer. Listen to your agent’s advice about how much to increase your offer by to make it more enticing to the seller. As your realtor, I will be able to make your counteroffer look even more appealing by bringing attention to the prices of other homes in the area of similar size and with similar features. Although the situation may seem to be escalating quickly and will get stressful, you need to make sure you don’t make any impulsive decisions. In order to make sure you don’t go overboard, we will keep a few things in mind:
- No matter what, you won’t be able to exceed the amount your mortgage company pre-approved you for.
- You should not overextend your budget.
- You want to keep your counteroffer reasonable so that you can enjoy your new home but also keep living your life. Besides, you aren’t out of options yet.
Be Flexible with your Contingencies One way to give your counteroffer an even bigger boost is to reduce the number of contingencies you’re asking for. If you do this, the seller know that you are willing to put yourself in a position in which you have fewer ways to back out, which reassures the seller that the deal will close. While reducing contingencies can be a good move, be cautious about the ones you pass on. An important contingency is the home inspection, which is the right to have the home inspected and request repairs. This gives you an easy out if there are any major problems and protects you from buying a money pit. But a termite inspection, for example, might be waived if the home is in a low risk location. Waiving contingencies will also depend on your market, your loan program requirements, your risk tolerance, and the circumstances of the house in question. Additionally, remember that if you waive contingencies and then you find a problem, the seller isn’t responsible for fixing it.