Is The First Offer the Best Offer When Selling Your Home?

First Offer the Best Offer There seems to be an unwritten rule in selling real estate: Your first offer is usually your best offer.

No seller wants to take forever to sell their home. The uncertainty is too stressful, and timelines are sabotaged. But many think that selling early in the marketing period is inevitably selling cheap.

Is this true?

Most agents say that the hardest sale to make is the one that comes along in the first days of marketing, especially if the sellers are inexperienced.

Lets be clear about this, we are not recommending blanket acceptance by sellers of their first offers but experience has shown that during its first few days or week on the market, a property is likely to draw the highest offer simply because real estate agents are primed to show the home during this period to their most serious or “hottest” current buyers.

Also, those who are unaware of the mechanics of the marketing process reason that if Buyer One is prepared to pay $x in the first week of marketing, then Buyer Two will pay $x+ next week.

They say things like – If the first ad brings in this sort of response, what will the second one bring? – as if price increases with time and exposure.

Highest Interest in First Few Weeks

Many sellers don’t realize that a property attracts the greatest amount of attention when it is first presented and on the market. All the buyers that have been looking for their ideal home for weeks and months converge eagerly on a new listing.

New listings attract numbers and numbers mean competition. Competition creates the climate that generates the highest offers. It creates a sense of urgency in any buyer who has fallen in love with a property and makes them act quickly in the fear that someone else will snap it up before they do. The longer a property is on the market at a given price, the more the sense of competition fizzles out and the more likely subsequent buyers are to feel they have plenty of time to make up their minds.

But many sellers have trouble accepting their first offer, especially if it comes within a few days or weeks after the property is listed. If the offer comes too quickly, some sellers believe they have undervalued their property and should hold out for an offer that is closer to the asking price.

How Do You Treat An Early Offer

Relax2 Sellers should never treat the first offer made on their property casually, or take the view that it’s only the first of many, as it more often than not proves in time to be the highest offer they receive.

Generally, the longer a home is listed on the market the less likely it is to attract its best selling price. A common mistake by sellers is; believing they can always revert to the first offer if nothing better materialises. But this is seldom the case as by then that person has purchased elsewhere or becomes suspicious of the seller’s change or heart so reduces his original offered price.

Accepting the first offer can mean a psychological readjustment for the seller. Every seller naturally hopes that dozens of prospective buyers will jump at the chance to purchase his or her home. When the first offer comes, sellers should readjust their thinking and concentrate on making the first offer the “right” offer.

How should you know if the first offer is the best offer?

Sometimes it’s a matter of trusting your instincts. If you’ve priced your property well, and an offer comes in below your asking price but within reason, find a way to negotiate to a comfortable middle ground. Best of all seek the guidance and experience of your real estate sales professional. The team at Nerang First National Real Estate are experienced professional negotiators ready to assist with your sale and help you along the way.