Do Offers Get Better With Time?

Unlike fine wine, offers to purchase your home do not get better over time.

Believe me, your first buyer is more often than not your best buyer. Real estate agents everywhere will tell you that they have seen this to be the case time and time again. I was speaking with a agent recently who has been in the business for thirty plus years and she could not ever recall an instance where a subsequent offer bested the first. Generally speaking, the potential buyer who makes the first offer is motivated and ready to do business. The first offer might be lower than you would like, but that’s what negotiations are for.

You can hold off in hopes of better offers, but many times properties sit on the market too long growing stale because the seller did not work with the first buyer. Months later, the seller ends up taking less than the first offer they received. By this time, that first buyer has already bought and moved on. The seller is kicking themselves for not making it work.

Remember time is not on your side as a seller. Time is a seller’s enemy, and a buyer’s ally. As days on market increase buyers seize the opportunity to drive the price lower, and are very cognizant of how many days your home has been listed. They will use time as ammunition in the defense of their offer.

While you may see it as an insulting “low ball” offer coming out of left field, you should still look closely at a first offer. Who is the buyer? How long have they been looking? Are they testing the waters with the initial offer, trying to see how motivated you are? Have they written other offers nearby?  Is this offer actually a number that is close to the number your real estate agent initially suggested?

As hard as it may seem to contemplate an offer lower than your asking price, serious sellers should look at all the signs leading up to it and consider if this is the offer to accept. Trust the phrase:

The first offer is always your best offer.

Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

Hardwood Flooring Is High On Buyer Wish Lists

Wood floors are in high demand among home buyers. If you believe a survey by the National Wood Flooring Association, 90 percent of real estate agents say that homes with hardwood floors are easier to sell, and 90 percent also say that homes with hardwood flooring tend to sell for up to 10 percent more than homes that don’t have it.

I would definitely concur that the vast majority of buyers prefer wood floors, not so much with the conclusion about the increase in overall value.

I never recall a buyer asking to show homes with carpeting, but plenty have specified that wood floors are on the top on their wish list. I have been in homes that have brand new carpeting, and been asked by the buyers to inquire with the listing agent whether or not there are hardwood floors underneath.

So if you are considering selling your home, by all means show off one of it’s best assets – your hardwood floors, if you have them.

If you are not sure about what is beneath your carpet, go into a closet and pull up the carpet in a corner. Pull it back a few inches and you will be able to determine if there are hardwoods underneath.

The age of you home can also help determine whether or not you have hardwood floors. Plywood unerlayment coupled with wall to wall carpeting became the flooring option of choice in the late 60’s, and solid wood flooring became an option instead of being commonplace. So if you home is more than 45 years old chances are good that you might have hardwood flooring.

Tearing up carpeting is not a task that requires a lot of skill, but it is time consuming. Removing the tack strips and staples, especially on stairs where they proliferate, means a lot of time on your knees with a pair of pliers.

Hardwood floors that have been covered for a long period of time often do not require a lot of effort to bring them back to shape, but pet stains from current or past pets can pose a potential problem that can prove difficult to remove.

Attractive hardwood floors make your home more marketable, and creates a postive impression in a potential buyer’s mind. Give them what they are looking for!

Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086