A deal on track to close…goodwill keep it wisely.
When selling real estate who doesn’t want top dollar for their home or terrific terms, like cash, a huge down payment and a reasonable closing date? We all do. I think there is also a good will factor that should be considered.
Good will once gone can take any deal and make it miserable. Here are a few ways that both buyers and sellers can help to maintain good will and make the purchase or sale of real estate enjoyable.
There will be deadlines prescribed by your contract or for submitting offers; be aware of those timelines and deadlines and try to beat them if possible. Think about being reasonable and even nice or polite; as the case may be. Yes, as a seller you might want multiple offers, but is it a good idea to make a buyer wait three days in hopes that you’ll get a better or competing offer? Most likely no, and the first buyers if you ultimately do accept their offer may come with a sour taste in their mouth to the transaction.
Ask yourself is your seller’s agent acting in your best interest? Perhaps your agent has an agenda of her own which has nothing to do with the sale of your home. Suppose you have multiple offers and one offer is very aggressive with a great down payment, great earnest money or due diligence money and flexible timelines. Let’s also suppose that your agent wants to string parties along with lots of qualifying phone calls to buyer’s agents to ‘get a feel’ for those agents. Let’s suppose that she’s focused on the agent that she’ll have to work with and not the merits of the offer submitted. That could lead to squandered good will, and if you go to contact with any of these buyers your agent’s agenda will color the transaction. Good listing agents recognize that getting the buyer’s agent onto your side will get the transaction closed and all will end up happy. Agents who are overtly adversarial end up with reputations and those agents often don’t look at the experience or track record of the other agents with whom they may work.
When purchasing a used or lived in home remember that this is still someone’s home and that many owners have roots in their neighborhood. Don’t stalk your new home. Don’t show up without an appointment. Don’t engage the neighbors with questions about your future home or the sellers. These actions could get back to the seller and will waste valuable good will.
When selling, try to be accommodating to inspections, visits from out of town family who might be zealous to see the new home. Set your boundaries but let the new buyer, their family and their inspectors in if possible. All visitors should be accompanied by an agent. Remember, once you decide to sell, then the home really isn’t your home anymore, it has become a house that’s for sale, a commodity as it were and a buyer of a commodity wants to interact with what has been purchased. On the flip side buyers should be aware too that there are still household needs and routines that must be tended to during the sales cycle, dogs need walking, homework needs completing, meals need preparing and laundry needs washing and all those tasks must take place at…home!
Finally, when unsure about behavior, turn the tables. Ask yourself, if I were the buyer and the seller did this, then how would I feel? Of course, that question goes both ways. Watch and listen to your agent too. Actively listen especially during the interview process, often without knowing it people and agents are people will tell you exactly where they are coming from; you want an advocate and a consultant not a warrior.