The Real Estate Browser Volume 9, Issue 11 | Page 25

24 — Say you saw it in The Real Estate Browser of Lynchburg — Volume 9 Number 11
www.LynchburgRealEstateBrowser.com
6 Ways to Lose at Negotiating a House Price
Real estate negotiation tips so you can buy your dream home — and not overpay.
on the costs of maintenance and replacing the
aging appliances.
Planning on repainting, remodeling, or land-
scaping, too? Suddenly the price looks a whole lot
higher.
When developing your offer, calculate in the
costs that will go above and beyond a mortgage
payment. Then you can negotiate with an eye on
the total cost of owning the house, not just the
sticker price.
On the flip side, the price may not be all that
matters to the seller, either.
She may have to start a job on the other side
of the country in a month and value a quick clos-
ing. Or she may be looking to rent from you for
a bit after the sale until her next home is ready.
Sometimes being accommodating is negotiation
gold.
Fail #2: Refusing to Back Down on Small
Repairs
You’ve looked at enough houses to fill an entire
season of House Hunters and finally picked one to
buy. Now you’re ready to make an offer.
Your agent can help guide you through this
nail-biting phase of negotiating a house price, but
ultimately, you call the shots. Here’s how to negoti-
ate like a boss.
Fail #1: Thinking House Price is All That Matters
That house with a price point $15k below your
budget? It may seem like a deal — until you add
Before you draw a line in the negotiation sand
over, say, a deck with some rotten boards, ask
yourself if it’s worth losing the house over a repair
that would cost less than a thousand dollars.
Say the house price is $250,000, which makes
that deck repair less than half of one percent of
the cost of the house. There’s a lot of emotional
energy at this point in the process, so give yourself
a break rather than dickering over it.
A house negotiation is not about winning for
the sake of winning. It’s about getting the house
you want at a fair price on good terms.