Keys to Negotiating on a Home as a Buyer: With Luke Thompson

May 5

If you’re on the hunt for a new home, it can be tempting to just follow your heart when it comes to offers and negotiations. However, the offer and negotiation process is actually a very strategic one that is absolutely crucial if you want your offer accepted - especially in multiple offer scenarios.

Bringing on a real estate agent is one of the best ways to make smart offers on the homes you’re interested in. We spoke with Luke Thompson to discuss some of the major keys to a smart negotiation process.

First and foremost, Luke explains that even though everyone wants a good deal when they’re buying something, a lowball offer is almost always going to be poorly received and become counter-productive to negotiations. Wanting to ‘see what they say’ is almost always going to be taken offensively by the receiving side. In reality, it will be much more strategic to come in right under or at asking, and perhaps open up extra conditions should you be concerned about the value of the home. Your agent can help you make an offer that is within your budget while still ensuring that the other side will take and consider your offer seriously.

On the other hand, if you believe that the seller is asking way too much for their home, your agent should assist you in talking to the agent on the other side to bridge the gap and pre-qualify the offer before it is submitted. This will help you ensure you’re also not overpaying for a home - however, this is often dependent on the market. If it is a seller’s market, and the seller is expecting to get multiple offers, there is more likely to be a ‘bidding war’ of sorts which may gauge the prices higher. An experienced agent will assist you in making a smart offer and conversing with the agent on the other side to ensure that you’re getting a fair price dependent on market conditions, the home, and more.

Finally, it is absolutely crucial, Luke says, to remeber that while your intention to buy the home may feel like business, it is typical for seller’s to feel strongly about their home and have an emotional attachment to it. More often than not, they have lived in the home for many years, built it to be the perfect home for their family, and have many vested memories in the property. Because of this, emotions may run high and the seller’s may not always react rationally during the negotiation process. This is to be expected, as not only is there a lot of money on the line, but an emotional aspect too. It is important to keep this in mind during negotiations and allow your agent and the other agent to speak from a place of purely business, and to be mindful that in certain situations, the seller’s may put up a bit of a wall as negotiations proceed. The more aware you are, the easier it will be to avoid these often difficult situations.