The Insider's Guide To Selling Your Home By Owner- Rocio Fausto I | Page 53

Negotiating Technique #4: An expiration date for extra motivation. Let me remind you. Once a buyer makes an offer you don’t want to accept, and you then make a counter offer, you are legally bound to see the negotiation process through until you and the bidder either comes to agreeable conditions or agrees to part ways. This means that you can’t take a higher offer if one comes a long, and that is just a rotten situation to be in. However, there is a way that you can counteract this problem. You can set yourself up for a higher selling price and a shorter waiting time all at the same time. To help your cause, selling your home quickly for the most money possible that is, put an expiration date on your counter offer. Basically, what that means is that you give your bidder a certain amount of time to either agree or disagree with your terms. This benefits your outcome in a couple of ways. Benefits of a short expiration date  First off, a short expiration date motivates your potential buyers to make a speedy decision. Either you’ll go into a contract with them, or they’ll move on to greener pastures.  If the bidder moves on, you are free to negotiate with other bidders quickly.  If they accept your terms in short order, you sell your property faster. Now, I encourage you to be reasonable about this. The last thing you want to do is turn your buyer off by making the timeframe too short, particularly if they aren’t that far off from your ideal price with their current offer. However, feel free to go below the standard time used in your state. So, if the typical deadline is three days, make yours two. 52