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Here we go! Southeastern Wisconsin is expected to receive up to 18″ of snow between Monday, January 31st through Wednesday, February 2nd with the vast bulk of it coming Tuesday into Wednesday. Fun times!
May as well have some fun with it.
Monday, January 31st 2011 at 8:30am:
Monday, January 31st, Noon:
Monday, January 31st, 9pm
Tuesday, February 1st, 6am
Tuesday, February 1st, 3pm
Q: Our house has been on the market for 4 months with mild interest from buyers. However, there has been on couple that have been through the house SEVEN times (4 open houses and 3 private showings). What little feedback we get from them indicates they like the house but calls to the agent asking if there is a way we can make things work usually go unanswered. At this point we are almost ready to not let them see the house again. We’re sick of getting everyone loaded up in the car and driving around for an hour.
I bet these folks aren’t alone. There is an old adage in sales – “The hardest word in the English language is “YES”". Volumes have been written on getting people to say it. Each year sales professionals spend time and money going to seminars to learn how to coax it out of people. In a typical setting, like a store or car dealership, getting to “yes” is much easier than in real estate. In real estate there isn’t always direct contact between the seller (or seller’s agent) and the actual buyer. Usually there is another agent guarding the buyer’s door and you have to go through them. Some of these buyer agents can be easy to work with – they’ll relay everything the seller offers or asks to their clients. Some – too many – don’t. They’re busy with other things or, dare I say, lazy. Some view relaying this info to their buyers as hounding them, so they keep it to themselves.
The question here is, how do you get through the gatekeeper to the buyer? And, how do you know for sure that the buyers is getting all the information you are sending?
In a normal sales setting you could employ a method I call “Wouldya couldya.” It’s pretty easy and requires no salesmanship whatsoever. Someone expresses interest in an item and the “salesman” says something like “Wouldya buy it if…?” Insert a price, color, model etc after the if. Most common would be “Wouldya buy it if the price were right?” The two problems with this in a real estate transaction are the buyers agent and the fact that things discussed verbally aren’t worth the paper on which they’re written.
In the case where a buyer has been through multiple times and/or has expressed decent interest in the property, I would suggest to my sellers that they write an offer to the buyer.
At first the sellers usually object saying they don’t want to waste the time putting it in writing if the buyers are non-responsive verbally. Let me ask you this – what is an hour writing an offer compared to another month (or more!) on the market? Putting anything in writing makes it real – the buyer can look at it, hold it in their hands, it details every little item and contingency and gives them a lot of reasons to say yes. While it is easy to say “no” with their mouths, it is much harder to affix their initials on the line of the offer where it says “this offer is rejected.” To their minds, they aren’t just rejecting the offer, they are rejecting the house.
WRITING THE OFFER
Writing an offer to a buyer requires some thought on your bottom line price. What is the least amount you will accept for your home? The next step after this is deciding whether you want to put that price to the buyer or inflate it a little to leave room to negotiate. You can go either way here. Some sellers might be concerned that their offer gets countered by the buyer for a lower price. First, it is highly likely that they will and second, it is OK to repeatedly counter-offer at your original offer price. There are a variety of things in an offer on which you can negotiate.
After you have decided your terms, it is time to put them on paper. Your agent writes the offer the same as he or she would write any offer. There may be some terms you may not know – such as down payment amount, if they are taking conventional financing or FHA, a 15 year or a 30 year mortgage. Don’t worry about that, just put in some normal terms for your market (for instance, if your home falls into the first time buyer market, a 30 year FHA loan with 3.5% down is pretty typical). Once done, just sign the offer where it says “Seller” and send it over. Your buyers WILL see the offer. Agents are obligated to present every offer submitted to them, even if its something as unconventional as an offer written by a seller. If their agent refuses, your agent has the right to present it to the buyers himself. You are guaranteed the buyers will see it.
The reason why you can “fudge” a little on some of the terms of the offer is that the true goal of this is to start a conversation (or to stop the endless showings by buyers not willing to move forward). While a signed contract would be nice, a counter-offer back from the buyer is a definite win for you. If you’re a fisherman, you just set the hook. From here on out you negotiate the deal just like you would any other.
There is a lot of uncertainty in the market today and because of that, buyers are finding it harder and harder to say “yes” to a home they would otherwise jump at. Some of these truly can’t buy the house but the vast majority, in my opinion, can. By writing an offer to your buyers you are reaching out to them as if to say “we want you to own our house. Let us help you do that” and that can go a long way to some buyers. Seller’s in todays market have to be pro-active in every way possible. Marketing and pricing aggressively, repainting and staging the home are great ways to help get your home sold, but they are passive. Writing an offer to a buyer is a great way for a home seller to actively get their home sold.
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| Interactive Tour |
MLS# 1170887 |
4 bedrooms, 2.0 baths |
$239,900 |
Beautifully updated 4BR/2BA Ranch with finished lower level boasts great floor plan with plenty of open space. New Baths, Kitchen, carpet, plus roof, windows and septic! Living Room w/natural fireplace and a separate Dining Room. Kitchen has new solid surface counters and flooring. New baths w/ceramic tile and vanities. Lower offers extra bedroom w/egress window, rec room and den/office. Hilltop views, almost an acre and close to Interstate and downtown Mukwonago. A move-in condition home!
Cell: (262)206-7290 Direct: (262)754-6680
Jeff Gramins
Equal Housing Opportunity
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Exterior View of Home |
Entrance Foyer |
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Natural Fireplace |
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Kitchen |
Kitchen |
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| Interactive Tour |
MLS# 1170887 |
4 bedrooms, 2.0 baths |
$239,900 |
Beautifully updated 4BR/2BA Ranch with finished lower level boasts great floor plan with plenty of open space. New Baths, Kitchen, carpet, plus roof, windows and septic! Living Room w/natural fireplace and a separate Dining Room. Kitchen has new solid surface counters and flooring. New baths w/ceramic tile and vanities. Lower offers extra bedroom w/egress window, rec room and den/office. Hilltop views, almost an acre and close to Interstate and downtown Mukwonago. A move-in condition home!
Cell: (262)206-7290 Direct: (262)754-6680
Jeff Gramins
Equal Housing Opportunity
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Exterior View of Home |
Entrance Foyer |
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Living Room |
Natural Fireplace |
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Kitchen |
Q: Is it OK to submit simultaneous offers on 2 or 3 properties?
I will not say whether or not it is “OK” to submit offers on multiple properties, but I can tell you it is possible to do it. CAUTION: you have to know from the get-go that you could wind up owning 2 or more properties – or at the very least getting sued for specific performance. Also, it is essential that you have hired your own real estate agent as trying to do this with multiple listing agents would not only be nearly impossible, but it would greatly increase your exposure to problems.
Do you get the idea that I do not recommend doing this? Good! Because I don’t!
With that out of the way, this is how you would go about implementing this tactic:
For the sake of example, let’s assume you have found 3 properties within about $10,000 of each other – any of which would be the right home for you and your family. $300,000, $305,000 and $310,000.
You sit down with your buyers agent (with whom you have signed a Buyer’s Representation contract) and determine the market values of the three houses so as to write your offers at a good price. Even though this tactic will only work if you lowball all three, you need this information for further negotiation. The next step is to write the offers at what some would call a “stupid price” – something at least 15% under the market value you just determined. This should protect you from winding up owning multiple homes. You can also add into the offer many things that the seller may want to counter such as a long closing date, denying them right to cure, asking for them to pay closing costs etc etc. Give the sellers the same amount of time to respond.
The strategy is to make 100% sure that the sellers will counter your offer. If two or more accept the offer as in, you’re in trouble!
Your agent then submits your offers to the listing agents. A good idea would be to instruct him or her to tell the lister that you have other homes in mind, but that theirs was the #1 pick. If this one doesn’t work out, you’ll just write on the next one. He or she should not say you have multiple offers out there.
Next, you wait. The sellers will have to get their hearts beating again, maybe have a drink and then decide on how to deal with your offer. There is a chance one seller may accept your offer, in which case you’re done with the negotiations. There is still a chance that more than one accepts. (Yes, I will keep saying this – this tactic is pretty dangerous up to this point!)
Let’s assume no one accepts, no one rejects but all three send counter offers. You are now safe from the danger of owning two homes!
Your agent calls you and you set up a time to go over all the offers. At this point one might look real good and you just accept it and reject the other two. You could have two that look good and one that is way off. But, let’s assume that all three look like you can work with them.
In real estate most forms are what I call “2-step forms” meaning that one side signs then the other side signs and the deal is done. However, there is a neat little form called a “Multiple Counter Proposal” which is a three step form. The first side signs and submits to the other side. If the other side signs, they send it back to the first side. The deal is not done until the first side signs a second time. So, even if all three accept you are protected from winding up with multiple homes since the deal isn’t sealed until you sign the form a second time!
Multiple Counter Proposals do not all have to be the same for the three different homes. If you like one more than the others, you can make that offer a little more palatable to the sellers.
You fill out the multiple counter proposal with your agent and he or she submits them to the respective agents. He or she will then have to field calls from the listing agents wondering just what the heck is going on. Congratulations, you have now just turned the tables on the seller and put them in a bidding war for your money!
Be warned: once you send out these multiple counter proposals one or more sellers may just toss your offer in the trash and move on because they feel like they’re being jerked around.
If the sellers do not like the terms in the multiple counter you sent them, they’ll either reject or counter (using a “single” counter offer form, not a multiple). If one or more accept you’re pretty much done. Just choose the one you like, sign it and send it back – you’re on your way to home ownership!
If they all counter at terms you don’t like, then we get to the “lather, rinse, repeat” point. Keep doing that until you get the deal you want or all three kick you to the curb.
What happens if they kick you to the curb? You can resubmit counter offers, but at this point work with the house you liked best and just send single counter proposals. Sellers may get stubborn at this point and choose not to negotiate with you, so expect some resistance and/or skepticism.
ALTERNATE
There is a slightly less aggressive, yet much safer, way to do this.
You have the three homes, any of which will work for you. Sit down and choose your #1 choice and write an offer you feel is fair and submit it. Instruct your agent to let the lister know you have several homes in mind and have written offers on them to be submitted if this one doesn’t work. That’ll put a little fire under the sellers. If they don’t want to come to the terms you want, counter it if it is close or reject their counter-offer and move to the next. If none of the three work out, just send a counter back to home number one. Again, lather, rinse, repeat until you have a deal or the deal dies.
This is the way I recommend getting the sellers into a bidding war.
I came across this video the other day on YouTube. It is from 1954 and does a pretty darn good job explaining how an economy runs.
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| Interactive Tour |
MLS# 1177813 |
4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths |
$289,900 |
Stop looking! This is the meticulously maintained home that you have been searching for. The large kitchen with dinette and bay window is crisp and clean. The desirable main floor master suite offers a large bedroom, bath with separate vanities, whirlpool tub, extra-large shower and huge walk-in closet. Upstairs you will find three large bedrooms and a loft-common area, great for crafts or doing homework. The spacious lower level features a rec room, powder room and plenty of storage space. The extra detached three car garage tops off this great home. Don’t miss out!
Cell: (262)206-7290 Direct: (262)754-6680
Jeff Gramins
Equal Housing Opportunity
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Main Floor Master Bedroom |
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| Interactive Tour |
MLS# 1164334 |
3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths |
$284,900 |
Come home to this great home located in Regal Manors subdivision. From the spacious living room with skylight and fireplace to the large bedrooms upstairs, this home features fresh paint and new carpeting – all neutral to accommodate your tastes. The kitchen is thoughtfully planned with a large dinette. There is also a spacious office area. Upstairs, the master suite features a newly updated bath and balcony overlooking the private back yard. The lower level offers a rec room, a possible fourth bedroom with daylight windows plus plenty of storage and work space. Don’t miss out!
Cell: (262)206-7290 Direct: (262)754-6680
Jeff Gramins
Equal Housing Opportunity
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Jeff Gramins offers his over two decades of sales and service experience to assist in the purchase or sale of your home. His qualifications and credentials are backed by exemplary service and a genuine concern for your needs. Jeff's success comes from putting the goals of his clients first and foremost in his practice. His outstanding performance, marketing skills and knowledge of the market have earned him the respect of his peers and referrals from satisfied clients.
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