As a real estate agent, I spend quite a bit of time acting as a counselor in one way or another. I help people weigh the pros and cons when deciding between various houses. I give advice regarding a reasonable sales price range for a house, for both sellers and buyers. I guide people through the home inspection phase and offer support for reasonable repair requests.
This all becomes very tricky at times because buying or selling a home is a very emotional process. Throw on top of that the fact that it typically involves a large amount of the person’s wealth and everyone is on high alert. Setting expectations is a very important part of a real estate agent’s job in order to keep the buyer and seller moving towards their respective goals, buying and selling a home.
The major stress times in a home sale occur during the sales price negotiations and inspection negotiations. Both the buyer and the seller are usually trying to get the best deal for themselves. It’s just a part of human nature. No one wants to overpay and no one wants to be taken advantage of.
Here are some things you can do to try and diffuse stress and work towards an agreeable outcome that will help each party reach their goal…
1. Take a deep breath and try to understand the other side’s position. Are they requesting something based primarily on emotion, or is the request based in fact and supported by data? For example, is the buyer truly low-balling the seller with their offer price, or can it be supported with recent home sale data? If someone is asking for inspection-related items, are they safety/mechanical related or only cosmetic?
2. Don’t react rashly. Take some time to think through the request and your response to it. Sleep on it or go out for a long walk to think about it before coming to a decision. Include all parties involved in the decision (ie- your spouse, partner, etc.). Often one spouse will take the lead without really listening to the other decision maker’s position. Are you on the same page with the person that you’re buying or selling the house with?
3. Can you creatively bridge the gap? For example, if you can’t come to an agreement on a closing date, can a short term alternative housing arrangement be made for one of the parties? If there is a manageable gap on sale price, could appliances included or excluded make the difference?
Finally, if you’re seriously considering walking away, what’s your next best alternative, and it is good enough?
If a buyer chooses to walk away from a house, will they be able to find a comparable one that they like well enough for the same price?
If a seller chooses to walk away from a buyer, will they be able to find another buyer that will pay at least the same amount for the house, in a relatively short amount of time?
Each side needs to try and quantify their costs for walking away and determine if it’s actually worth it.
Your real estate agent should be able to help you sort through the pros and cons of each option, but ultimately it’s the buyer and seller’s responsibility to make a decision. From there, your agent should support whatever decision you make.