The Insider's Guide To Selling Your Home By Owner- Rocio Fausto I | Page 44

because of the X (insert a unique feature of your town.) Do they have an X where you live now?" That will start the conversation about where they are moving from. You can learn a lot from what they say. It will be helpful during the negotiations. You would be amazed at what some people will tell you. Common Negotiating Mistake #2: Meeting in the middle. (This is the most common mistake that novice home sellers make.) It's the easiest way to sell your home for $5,000 to $10,000 less than you should. I don't want to come across cocky, but meeting in the middle is really lame. It's the most common thing that everyone does and the problem is that everyone thinks they have to do it. That's a big mistake. There is no rule book that says you have to "meet in the middle." Here is a quick story that illustrates this. A home was on the market for $240,000. The buyers made an offer for $220,000. The agent told the seller to reject the offer and told the other agent that they should come back with a better offer. (The house had only been on the market for 2 days.) The buyer came back and "Met in the middle" with a $230,000 offer. The agent knew they were serious buyers and really wanted the house. The seller thought the buyer was being a good person by "meeting in the middle." He was willing to accept the $230,000 offer. The agent told him to give a little, but not "meet in the middle." He recommended that he counter at $237,500 and see what happened. The buyers came back with $235,000 and after some more negotiations the buyer and seller agreed on $237,000. So, what can you take from this. 43