Can I Negotiate My Real Estate Contract?

Can I Negotiate My Real Estate Contract?
05-27-08

You can negotiate anything. The real estate contract is no different. When an offer comes in to buy your home it may not be what you were expecting. This is not a problem because you can negotiate your real estate contract.

You can counter the offer by asking for what you want. The real estate agent is required by law to submit to you any offers which may come into her office. She has to present them no matter what she thinks of them. You may not like some of the offers you see. This is fine. At least there are interested parties. The time to get scared is when there are no offers.

Let's say you are offering your home for $145,000. The market analysis showed that this was a comparable price for your neighborhood. The buyer has presented an offer of $125,000 and has asked for certain things. They want you to pay the closing costs and three points. This is not really a great offer. It could be worse, but it is not one you should say yes to. It is also not one you should just rip up and storm away from either.

Stop and think about it for a moment. You know you have someone who is interested in your home. This is a good thing. They are $20,000 below asking price. Closing costs can be another $3,000 and when you add the points this brings it to a total of $6,750. You need to figure a way to save the deal and make everyone happy.

You already knew you would look at offers under the asking price. You also knew you would accept the first one which offered $139,000. You were willing to drop $6,000 from the asking price. So you can do that now. Counter the offer with your own negotiations. Offer to pay the closing costs and the points if the buyer will agree to the full price.

The buyer may walk away from the deal. He may also decide this is perfect and accept it. You can only see what the outcome is. The buyer may also decide to counter the offer again. This is how the negotiations work with a real estate deal.

You may also think you are bound by just the paperwork of the original contract. This is not true. You can add an addendum to make sure everything you and the buyer have agreed upon is in writing. By adding an addendum you know exactly what is stipulated between both parties. This means there is less confusion. Each party involved knows what is happening. No one can claim they did not understand the contract.

You must understand while the paperwork is under negotiations, it is an agreement. Once everything has been hammered out and agreed upon with signatures from all the parties involved, it becomes a contract. This contract is upheld by the courts. This is why negotiations are important. You want to make sure everything you want, need, or expect to be done is worded in the agreement so everyone understands. After the negotiations, you are bound by the contract.

Mark E. Moebius
Miljonair Homes
Custom home builder St. Louis
3451 St. Albans Rd.
St. Albans, MO 63073
636.300.9000