To be an appealing Intown Atlanta buyer, in a Buyer’s Market that seeks your purchase from every media touchpoint, you may ask just what is my definition of an “appealing buyer?”   

My definition is simple. To be an appealing buyer, you simply comprehend and act forthrightly on the knowledge that when you structure an offer on any property, you must balance price, terms and time. Contrarily, to be an unappealing buyer you fall victim to one or more of the many easily avoidable negotiation pitfalls beginning with the seriousness of your initial look at a property. You understand “win / win” or no deal if you are an appealing buyer.

   

An offer is never just about price, right?

   * PRICE – Here are some solid groundrules…When you present a purchase and sales agreement as an offer with earnest money (equal to 1-2% or more of the sales price) and a time limit for acceptance, if the purchase offer is less than the seller’s asking price, and / or if you ask for a substantial amount of the closing costs to be paid by the Seller (closing costs are somewhere between 2-3%, usually, of the sales price) then these two dollar values are your primary points to negotiate. Nothing else matters more to the Seller than these two numbers.

  * TERMS – Here is a likely “terms” scenario to use in your approach to the seller…When your terms include a due diligence period (which has a certain number of days and enables you a wide open right to terminate and a wide open right to amend on any point of the contract) then your inspections, your findings, your surveys, your informed decision-making, are all contingent. If you find flaws and defects, then you can negotiate the price down, ask the seller to make repairs before the purchase date, have closing costs paid by the Seller, etc.

  Next, think about warranties. What about a Moisture Free Warranty ?    A watertightness warranty paid for by the Seller along with a solid 3d  party warranty paid for by the Seller for appliances and systems from American Home Shield or another service. These could both be a part of the initial offer. Just the warranties will cost $800-1000 or more in closing costs for the seller.   If Moisture Free requires repairs to be made (window counterflashings, etc.) then the Seller must pay for them prior to closing.

 If you can get the Seller to agree to your price, a 14 day termination right, and 2 solid warranties, then you may even elect to negotiate some obvious deferred maintenance or repair items, up front prior to inspection.

  Lets pretend that the Seller will agree to all of these negotiable terms. Read the rest of this entry »