SHOW THEM YOUR MONEY.

Become the buyer sellers want. Become serious. Show your money.

Offers in writing are far more powerful than verbal offers. A home cannot be sold verbally, so don’t make your offer verbally.

Despite any encouragement- such as cost savings – never use the same lawyer or conveyancer as the seller.

If you make an offer and you say, “this is the most I will pay”, and the agent presents your offer to the sellers who say ‘no’, what do you do then? If you increase your offer – the agent who told the sellers, “They won’t pay any more” – now looks incompetent. This upsets agents and makes the sellers suspicious. After all, you said you would not pay more and then you did pay more. You have lost the advantage of being seen as trustworthy.

Make sure the amount of your offer does not end in a ‘thousand figure’. Have it end in a ‘hundred figure’. It increases the chance of acceptance if you offer $802,500 instead of $800,000. It sends the message, “This really is our maximum.”

From Real Estate Do’s and Don’ts by Neil Jenman