While gathering information on your prospective home purchase and its seller, smart negotiating tactics include revealing little about your personal situation. If you have a buyer s agent, as you should, caution that agent not to reveal any confidential information to sellers or their listing agents, such as the maximum price you can pay or the maximum mortgage for which you have been preapproved. However, don t hesitate to ask questions of sellers, their listing agents and anyone else who can give you information. The more a buyer knows about a home before making a purchase offer, the better chances that purchase will be at an acceptable price to the seller and a bargain for the buyer. It was a good deal for her and a great deal for the buyer.
Time is important in any negotiation, especially for the sale of a home.
If the sellers are retirees who have all the time in the world to sell their home for a maximum sale price, they could take years to sell. But if the seller must start a new job next week in Keokuk, Iowa, he or she is probably highly motivated and will accept any reasonable price offered. The worst that can happen is the seller might say no. More likely, he or she will make a counteroffer that you can accept, reject or counter-counteroffer. The worst home-purchase negotiation situation occurs when a prospective buyer falls in love with a particular residence and telegraphs that emotion to the agent or seller.