I recently crossed paths with a gentleman executing a creative buying tactic. Since it’s a buyers’ market, he figured this would be his opportunity to cash in on a great deal. So he came up with an innovative plan for getting what he wanted.
First, he and his real estate agent selected three homes – all with similar features, square footage and finishes, but all three in different parts of town. While he was selecting these homes, he managed to do something most of us can’t. He avoided getting emotionally attached to any of them. Finally, he vowed to keep his offers at 10 percent less than the list price of each house.
Here’s how it unfolded. He made an offer on his first choice, 10 percent less than the list price. The seller rejected it, and the buyer moved on to house number 2. It just so happened that my seller was house number 2, and the man made an offer 10 percent less than the asking price. My seller countered the offer, but the man walked from the deal. The buyer made an offer on house number 3, again asking for a 10 percent reduction in the purchase price. This time the seller accepted, and the man got what he felt was a good deal on his next primary residence.
You may be thinking, “Good for him! He executed a smart plan and used the buyers’ market to his advantage.†But here are some things to ponder if you’re considering this tact.
1) Make sure you’re not emotionally involved with any of the three homes you pick. This is difficult for most people because buying a home impacts so much of your life. I don’t know many folks who can pull this off.
2) Be prepared that all the sellers may reject your offer, which means you’ll either have to pick three new homes to implement the plan, or you’ll have to increase the offers on the original three.
3) This strategy only works as long as there are plenty of comparable homes on the market, and that’s not going to last forever.
