Force The Buyers To Set The Price

Category: Finance, Real Estate.

With all the talk in the news lately about the housing market falling apart, buyers are getting more and more fearful every day.

Buyers are watching carefully as builders relentlessly slash the prices of new homes and they are constantly second- guessing themselves. A good real estate agent must know how to set their minds at ease in this minefield of a market. What is the main question on their minds? They know that they have the desire to buy and today's buyer usually has the means to act on what they want. The doubt that keeps most of them up at night is whether or not they are timing their purchase right. They are just not sure that now is the time to move forward because they are being bombarded with the message that housing prices are about to drop even more.

If you were about to buy a$ 30, 000 BMW that you have heard will be on sale in a month for$ 20, 000, what would you do? Put yourself in their position. If you had the ability to wait it out, even if the chances of keeping a substantial amount of your cash were slim, you' d likely wait it out and see. They may not intend to wait a specific amount of time, but they certainly don' t want to close a deal on the same day the man on the morning news is screaming, "Don' t buy a house now, whatever you do! " Jim Crammer, is even telling, of CNBC homeowners in upside down mortgages to, "just walk away, " from their homes in that situation as an option to get out from under them. It is the same story with potential home buyers. It tends to make people a little gun shy when they hear that kind of talk. Usually after the home inspection, buyers sense that the sellers are overwhelmingly relieved to finally be selling their property.

Some buyers are even demanding huge gouges out of the final price of homes at the last minute. So, buyers throw down a list of demands that reads more like a ransom note just before the closing. So, what's an agent to do with all of the market's squirrelly buyers? Sometimes they even panic and pull the plug on the deal entirely. You need to vaccinate them against buyer's remorse before the evil virus takes hold and kills your deal. Remind them that even though the market may have its ups and downs, homes are a great thing to buy. Bring them back to the basics.

Over the long haul, real estate is a terrific investment. Also remind them that a small drop in the price of a house will likely be offset by a rise in interest rates. What other material purchase will gain equity while they use it day in and day out? Unless they are prepared to pay cash up front, they need to factor in more than just the purchase price of the home. Force the buyers to set the price. A realtor may even want to consider pricing their properties aggressively low to encourage multiple bids.

A little competition always makes a property appear more enticing to a prospective buyer. Agents, must commit to, like buyers staying the course as we watch the housing market continue to morph. So, in today's market, a little advice will go a long way when you' re talking to prospective buyers.