Seeing it like a seller
Seeing it like a seller
October 17, 2011
Home buyers may find it difficult to view the process from a seller's perspective, even if they have sold their own home in the past. To do so, however, can make the process of searching for and purchasing a home go much more smoothly.
U.S. News and World Report notes home sellers tend to be much more emotionally invested in the process, since they tend to have an attachment to the home even as they plan to sell it. This emotional investment in the property is generally maintained even as they prepare to negotiate. This can have a number of effects, such as causing them to overestimate the worth of the home and stick to a higher price than is justified.
Negotiations and interactions
Home sellers may also prefer to sell to someone they can relate to better, or to a family like their own. They might be more inclined to negotiate with someone who's situation they regard with sympathy, which could mean a young married couple or an older family, depending. These intangible factors can have a strong effect on the home sellers' willingness to accommodate the buyers in negotiations.
Even those unwilling to negotiate a price point might react in other ways, such as throwing an appliance, yard equipment, landscaping or other peripheral assets into a deal. Depending on what the buyers want, such concessions can be worthwhile. Assistance with closing costs, for example, may be on the negotiating table even if the price of the home is not.
Bankrate.com notes the home selling process can be stressful, and homeowners may find themselves in the position of choosing between lowering their price or waiting for a significant period of time. Home buyers should understand these competing pressures when negotiating in order to better gauge the attitudes of their counterparts.
The personal perspective
Awkward situations can arise if, as U.S. News and World Report notes, the home sellers choose to be present during an open house or walkthrough by a prospective buyer. Both sides may feel uncomfortable. From the sellers' perspective, it may be strange to have someone else examining their home while they are present, while home buyers might feel constrained from judgment and discussion, as well as thinking the homeowners do not trust them.
Alternatively, some sellers may not have prepared the property for visitors to the extent that is customary. Homeowners typically try to show off the property they intend to sell in as clean and uncluttered a condition as possible, but prospective buyers should keep in mind that these homes are generally still occupied, even if the residents are away temporarily. This understanding can make it easier to look past minor, apparent faults, such as a room that seems smaller than it is due to the arrangement of furniture.