Negotiation Tips for Selling Your Home in Seattle

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March 8, 2019
By  Alex Romanov

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So you are getting ready to sell your house in Seattle? That’s great! Let me ask you. Have you done your homework and are you ready to win the negotiation war? If you are not a negotiation expert or sell houses for a living, this article will help you prepare for what’s ahead of you.

Always complete a home inspection before listing your home on the market or selling your home to a buyer. This little trick will easily save you thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars in seller concessions. Also, it will nearly always sell your home faster. An inspection only costs $400 and for the small price that you will pay upfront, you will know everything that is wrong with the house and requires attention. This way you will not be blindsided by buyers bringing up last minute concerns and asking for discounts.

In cases where a buyer has visited your house and displayed considerable interest, but for some reason remains on the fence an expert move can be to throw in a few extras which will speak to the buyer’s emotional side and help them make the right decision. Make sure to talk to the buyer and find out their passions then think a little bit about what kind of incentive can you throw in with the house in order to appeal to the buyer’s passion. In our experience, we’ve seen sellers buy or leave mountain bikes, kayaks, or campaign equipment for outdoor enthusiast buyers. For buyers who are a bit more homely knife sets, small wine collections, or nice appliances can do the trick. Whoever you are dealing with there is always an emotional side to that individual, you just have to uncover it and then appeal to it. Trust us, you will be generously rewarded.

Before you review any offers you should sit down and consider all of your options and plausible scenarios. Then figure out what is the lowest amount that you will accept from a buyer. Once you have this amount figured out, don’t sell your house for less than this amount no matter what! Having a logical mindset when reviewing offers will help you make the best decision and not regret leaving a bunch of money on the table after the sale is complete. If you do not receive any offers or if all of the offers are way below your minimum threshold you probably overpriced the house and this is a good point to reconsider your assumptions. Meet with your realtor and ask to review the comparables again if the comparables are suggesting that you should lower the price do it otherwise you’ll most likely waste months and you will not have a buyer for your house.

If you are selling your home in a hot market like Seattle or Tacoma try to setup a bidding war among the buyers. This is a sure way to walkaway with a nice check after the sale of your house. In order to facilitate a bidding war what you want to do is price the house slightly below the market value. This will generate intense interest (if you are in a seller’s market) and you will typically end up with several offers on the table to choose from. To add some fuel to the fire you may want to inform the buyers that you will be reviewing all offers on a particular day; Monday 5pm is a popular choice to review offers.

To help you better negotiate with a buyer, take some time to learn about them. What situation are they in? Do they need to move right away? Are they financially able to pay full price? What is their motivation for wanting to move? If they need a bigger house for their family, you can play up how large the finished basement is. Do they like sports? Talk about their favorite team. Creating a friendly conversation will help your negotiations go more smoothly.

When it comes to selling your Seattle house, you can always expect for there to be some haggling. If you are prepared and keep yourself one step ahead, you will be more likely to get your listing price!

The tips I shared with you are just some of the ideas and techniques that worked for us or sellers that I know. However, the field of negotiations is much broader and deeper and you can pick up some great techniques by reading what negotiation experts have to say. Here are  some negotiation tips that you may want to consider  just to give you an idea of what’s out there.

In conclusion, these negotiation techniques work whether you are dealing with a traditional home buyer represented by an agent or if you are selling your house to a We Buy Houses type company. Even if you want to sell your house fast for cash you still want to negotiate with the buyer because you have some leverage and this will help you to get a better deal.

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