World Home Improvement Center – Interior Design – Decoration

Concessions are anything a seller gives a buyer as an inducement to spark an offer. The slower the market, the more creative and desperate the inducements become. Concessions can include anything from paying all or part of the buyer’s closing costs on the loan, to redecorating based on the buyer’s wants or needs, replacing appliances, or throwing in existing appliances.

Before you write an offer, ask your agent to look at the sold listings in the area and see how many sellers paid concessions and what their average costs were. In reality, when a seller pays concessions it should be subtracted from the sales price to get a true picture of the sale.

For example, if there were seventeen similar properties sold in the area in the last three months and the sellers of twelve of these homes paid buyer concessions, then you know this is common practice. Now, suppose the average concession was $3,600. You would then ask the seller to pay at minimum this amount toward your loan costs, redecoration expenses, or whatever else reduces the selling price.

Tips:

Most Realtor MLS systems allow agents to pull up sold listings that detail days-onmarket, list price to sold price, how much the seller paid in concessions, and how the buyer financed the home. These are all good data that you can use to get a feel for how low you can go with your offer.

Related posts:

1. Sellers Are Not Always Rational
2. Whatever the Market, It’s Always a Good Time to Buy (2)
3. Using an Emotional Connection to Boost Your Offer’s Appeal
4. What if Your Dream Home Is Overpriced? Part (2)
5. Using an Emotional Connection to Boost Your Offer’s Appeal Part (2)

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