How to Deal with a Low-Ball Offer

If you take care to price your home correctly - that is, at a price that is in line with what similar properties in the area have sold for recently - then you have a good chance of selling it at or near your asking price.

That doesn’t mean you won’t get a low-ball offer. You might. So, what do you do when that happens?

First, understand that the buyer may not necessarily be trying to steal away your home at a bargain-basement price. He might simply be mistaken about its true market value. Of course, he might also be coming in at a low price in the hopes he’ll get lucky.

You will never actually know the buyer’s motives. So, it would be a mistake to get angry or dismiss the offer out-of-hand. That low-ball offer might end up being the beginning of a negotiation that results in the sale of your home at a good price.

Your first step is to work with me to determine:

• Whether the buyer is serious.

• Whether the buyer is qualified. (For example, does he have a pre-approved mortgage?)

• How amenable the buyer is to a counter-offer that reflects the true market value of your home.

• What that counter-offer should be.

This isn’t an easy process. It takes the knowledge and experience of a professional real estate agent like me to get it right.