You did everything to prepare your Martinsburg and Hagerstown home to be on the market. You cut the clutter, cleaned everything inside and out, touched up paint and even trimmed the hedges. Open house went great! There were a lot of showings and you finally have an offer that you are happy with.
The work is over right? No. Here is why you should still show your home even if you have an offer.
3 Reasons Why You Should Still Show Your Home Even If You Have An Offer in Martinsburg and Hagerstown
Funding Might Not Come Through
One of the biggest reasons a home doesn’t close escrow is because the borrower didn’t secure the funding. There are many reasons this can happen but in the end, it all means the same to you as the seller: you’re starting over.
You can protect yourself a bit by making sure you only accept offers from buyers with pre-approval. Don’t get suckered into pre-qualification letters. Those are merely ballpark ideas without a lender going through the nitty-gritty of someone’s financial situation. But even with a pre-approval, borrowers can still muck things up.
Something as benign as applying for the six-month no interest financing at the furniture store can lead to lenders denying the final funding. Protect yourself from uncertainty and continue to show and accept backup offers until you know the loan is funded.
Inspection Periods are Free “Walk Away” Periods
Real estate agents are known to explain to buyers that the inspection contingency period is a time when the buyer can walk from the deal for any reason. If contingencies are not released, the buyer doesn’t even need a reason. In fact, they may have made an offer on more than one home and are doing some due diligence to choose between the two. There is nothing you can do to stop them.
The way to protect yourself is by showing the property through the period when buyers release contingencies. If they walk from the deal after that, you at least get the earnest money as a consolation prize. Still, with the goal to sell the home, it can be hard to start over with no momentum and the home sitting there with an aging listing.
Once these contingencies are released, usually around day 19 of escrow, you really only need to concern yourself with funding and appraisal approval.
Allows Greater Negotiation Power in Escrow
During the escrow process, inspections will tell buyers about defects or faults in the property. Every property has something wrong with it – even brand new homes have an inspection report filled with concerns. That’s the inspector’s job! Rarely do these issues kill a deal. There are usually minor things like a problem with the garbage disposal or dirty AC filters.
That being said, these all become negotiation points the buyer will make demands for. Either you fix it or you credit the buyer with a specific amount of money for the defect. If you have continued to show the property and have backup offers, you can be stronger in your negotiation stance. Knowing someone will come in behind this buyer means you don’t have to offer or accept as high a value in concessions.
This gives you, the seller, a huge confidence boost. You know your house will sell and you don’t have to give it away. Sure, you will still need to negotiate, but you become the power position in the negotiation rather than the reactive position trying to simply finish the deal. Best of all, you don’t need to be the negotiator; your real estate agent has to have the ice-cold veins. You just need to state your position.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BUYING A NEW HOME IN Martinsburg and Hagerstown, PLEASE CONTACT US SO WE CAN ASSIST YOU. WE CAN BE REACHED AT 3017071678 OR BY SIMPLY FILLING OUT THIS FORM.