Fair Home Offers for sellers in todays sky high market

Be ready to accept a fair offer on your house, because there may not be another coming

Its time to figure out how to get fair home offers on your place. In today’s housing market, where prices are sky-high and interest rates seem to be competing with Mount Everest for height records, navigating the real estate landscape can feel like trying to play fetch in a minefield. As a Labrador realtor I bring a unique perspective. I mean, who better to dig up the bones of this market than man’s best friend?

Firstly, let’s bark about these prices. They’re not just high; they’re stratospheric. If prices were a tree, they’d be the redwoods, and us common folk are just trying to find a decent hydrant to afford. But let’s not roll over and play dead just yet. With interest rates also doing their best impression of a rocket launch, the challenge doubles. Getting a mortgage now feels akin to chasing your tail – a lot of effort for a dizzying outcome. Fair home offers aren’t coming to sellers who are asking above market prices. Those days are over. One thing I always tell my clients who are selling to look for is do they have an assumable mortgage at a low rate? If so what is the gap between your asking price on the home and the amount that the buyer can assume (the current mortgage amount)? The bigger the gap, the more money a buyer will likely have to come up with in cash. Therefore, a big assumption gap means that it is unlikely a sale will be completed going that route.

So what is a fair offer then

So, what’s a fair offer in this crazy market? It’s like trying to catch a frisbee in a hurricane. You’ve got to be quick, smart, and maybe a little lucky. A fair offer, my human friends, isn’t just about the price tag. It’s about sniffing out the true value beneath all the fluff. I’ve dealt with clients on both sides of the aisle who have high expectations.

In a market where every house seems to be priced for a king (or a King Charles Spaniel), a fair offer is one that doesn’t leave you howling in despair years down the line. It’s a delicate balance between not paying more than you have to and not insulting the seller by lowballing. Think of it like a game of fetch – you want to throw the ball far enough to be exciting but not so far that you lose it in the bushes. Also don’t forget to checkout my tips to get your home ready to show.

Evaluating the Price: Be honest with me now

Please don’t let this happen to you

In a normal market fair home offers are based on a Comparitive Market Analysis (CMA). However, for the last decade we have had speculators in the market treating homes, personal and investment like the stock market. These speculators buy, sell and refinance more times than I go out into the yard in a day. However with sky high prices and valuations and credit drying up many are no longer looking to income or cashflow based approaches to value single family homes. As we begin to move more towards a buyers market it is important for my selling friends and clients to take a long hard look at the comparable properties that have sold recently. I will be the first to admit this is not a perfect approach. However, it is always better to slightly under price your property in a buyers market, than to chase the market down. I have seen too many of you humans, over price your homes only to receive 0 offers. The result is that you end up licking the wounds of a hurt ego and decreasing the price until you decide maybe I can rent the property at a sky high price.

Negotiate like you life depends on it

Let’s not forget about the power of negotiation. In this market, it’s like a game of tug-of-war. Fair home offers usually mean you pull a little, they pull a little, and hopefully, you meet somewhere in the middle without anyone ending up in the mud. You’ve got to wag your tail but keep your teeth sharp. Show interest, but don’t act as though your home is sitting on top of an oil well. Play it cool, like you’ve got a dozen other offers buried and ready to dig up. However, if your home has been sitting on the market for over a month, no one will believe you have multiple offers (Open Door doesn’t count as an offer to most people).

Contingencies, I like you but…

Gone are the days of buyers waiving home inspections and waiving the right to back out of a deal if they can’t get financed for the full amount of the property. Also, if you think asking for a 5 day inspection period or 15 days to close is reasonable, your deal is likely going to blow up faster than a glitter bomb. I can not stress this enough have reasonable expectations from your buyers. Your idea of reasonably fair home offers my not align with theirs. Try to meet in the middle.  Always ask your realtor, does this sound like an unreasonable ask? Am I going to blowup the deal by doing this? What would you do if this was your home. A good realtor will prevent you from getting pushed around. They will also let you know when they think you are being a little too aggressive, or if there is a better path to resolve an issue.

Avoid predatory offers

I’ve previously covered things such as subject to mortgages that have become more prevalent in the current market. There are also investment firms which will make offers where they only pay for a portion of the sale price and then pay you the rest of the sale price when the resell the property. These aren’t fair home offers if you ask me. Personally these type of arrangements feel like scams or at the very least they are very predatory. Contingencies, such as the buyer has to sell their own home first may not seem so unreasonable in this current market (if you think they are selling at reasonable price). Your realtor should be able to provide some guidance as to what type of offers you should turn down no matter what.

How can your agent assist in getting you an offer?

Great agents will help you navigate the market the same way a job recruiter does. They will let you know if your home is Instagram worthy / ready for pictures. Hiring a professional photographer to get proper lighting and staging areas is very important as well. Communication is one the key issues that many times breaks down a relationship between a realtor and a client who is selling a home. Great realtors should let you know if anything around the house needs to be fixed (especially small dollar items). Communication with clients also extends to when there is nothing to report. My clients get anxious when they don’t hear from me (and you thought dogs were needy for attention). I call all my clients that I have a listing with every Tuesday and Friday (even if there is nothing to report). This generally keeps everyone calm.

Evaluate Everything

In the end you need to be honest with everyone, including yourself. Are you expecting your home to get offers the way a prom queen does to the high school dance. If your expectations meet the norm than there may be another reason why your homes hasn’t received any offers. The current market as of January 2024 looks to sway much more heavily toward buyers as it is this Labradors opinion that prices will have to come down even if interest rates come down as well. The current market trends show that most consumers are financially tapped out as far as their savings and credit is concerned. That means that it is best to sell now and get ahead of the market. If you do find yourself needing to sell a property right now or in the near future please feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to help or refer someone who can.