Seller Series: How To Pick a Good Buyer When You Sell Your Home

Phew, what a process! By now you’ve decluttered, packed and purged, you’ve allowed stagers to come in and make your home look like a magazine, and you are tiptoeing around your staged living room while your hubs is checking his cell phone photos for how the pillows should look. Your home has been cleaned and cleaned again, and a media team has come to take mind-blowing video for social media and the MLS so buyers can flock to your open houses and private showings. If you are working with our team you might have even checked into our Airbnb for a staycation while your home was on the market. 

Now it’s time to review offers.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” is not a good strategy when you have a stack of offers in your hands. Choosing the offer that is the highest price isn’t a good strategy either. Price is KING, but terms are QUEEN and she runs the show.

Here are the top items to look for when you are evaluating multiple offers.

Price 

(Duh. That one is the most fun.)

Financing

Cash is super fun, but check out the terms within those contracts—they can be bossier than the financed buyers.

Financed buyers who are getting a mortgage are the buyers fully underwritten and pre-approved. Are they FHA or VA financed? What percentage are they putting down? All these terms matter. (Pro tip: call every lender and find out the strength of the buyer, and how likely they are to get to the finish line.)

Who is the financed buyer working with? Is it a reputable lender who does the work up front to make sure their buyers are solid, or a big bank or online lender that doesn’t see a buyer through to the end? Who they work with matters. Local real estate agents will know many of the top lenders and their reputations for good communication and on time closings.

Is the buyer financed but waiving their financing? Buyers can act like a cash buyer by providing evidence of contingent funds. Many times these buyers may pay significantly above what a cash buyer would pay, making it worth it to take a financed buyer.

Appraisal

Cash buyers can ask for an appraisal even though they aren’t financed, and low appraisals are another area for negotiation. A financed buyer has the ability to waive an appraisal if the appraisal comes in low, and if they waived their appraisal they are promising to provide, in cash, the difference in appraised value in order to close. A financed buyer can also offer a predetermined amount of money to cover a low appraisal, making their high offer more attractive.

The highest purchase price that is guaranteed is the goal.

Closing Date

Are you looking for a quick close? I’ve had a cash buyer close in as little as four days! Ten days is more realistic, though, for cash. Fully underwritten financed buyers can close in as little as 10 days, too, they just need to slip an appraisal in. But more realistically, if you’ve done your septic inspection, a fully underwritten financed buyer can close in as little as 15 days.

Oh, and the rent-back. If you need time to move out or line up your next home, a rent-back can be a negotiating factor and worth a lot to a seller.

Waiver of Contingencies

There are lots of little ways a buyer can exit the contract, such as title contingency, HOA contingency, information verification period, home inspection, septic contingency, well contingency, and utilities. All of these are tiny exits baked into the contract. 

If your agent prepares your listing well, you can set a buyer up for success by having them research these items BEFORE they write the offer, allowing them to waive some of these items. 

(Note: I never suggest any buyer waive these contingencies unless they’ve done their research first. Our team goes above and beyond to supply all the documentation to make sure proper disclosures are signed and buyers know what they are buying in a house and community.)

Little Fees

There are a number of little fees that a buyer can absorb that helps the NET for a seller. For example, a buyer can offer to pay utilities, the HOA transfer fee, special assessments levied on a home that are supposed to be paid before closing, or they can forgo repairs the seller was going to do, making the seller’s life easier.

Heck, some buyers even offer to help a seller pay for their move. Or my dream: free tacos for a year. 

Closing Thoughts (No Pun!)

When you strategize your pricing and prepare your listing, begin with the end in mind: what does your dream offer look like? A full-time local agent who knows the contracts inside and out can help you structure a smooth like buttah closing.

If you have questions about selling your home, call Paige Schulte, top real estate agent in Gig Harbor. 

Cheers and Happy Home Selling,

Paige Schulte

Schulte & Co
Neighborhood Experts