All real estate contracts are different and knowing which parts to focus on will help you pick the best deal with the lowest risk with the highest chance of closing. If you’re lucky, you might even field multiple offers and knowing the strategy for reviewing each offer will give you the upper hand and allow you to lock in favorable terms and your desired sale price.
What you'll learn:
Deciding on the right offer is not as easy as saying yes to the highest bidder. You must hedge against known risks like pre-approved v. pre-qualified buyers and offers having unfavorable fine print. What other factors should you consider? Here are 3 tips for what is a great offer if you’re selling your home:
1. Contracts with few or no contingencies
Contingencies are the steps that must be completed before a seller can get paid. In short, they are the buyer’s conditions to complete the deal. This means that contingencies can derail your deal and carefully examining each is critical to ensure a successful sale. Here’s a list of common contingencies along with what makes for a great offer if you’re selling your home:
a. Mortgage contingency: This means that a buyer must obtain bank financing before completing the sale. Mortgage contingencies also often stipulate that the buyer achieve approval at or below a predefined interest rate. If they don’t achieve both, the buyer can terminate the contract penalty free. A good offer when you’re selling your home is a buyer who has achieved mortgage pre-approval. Even better is if your buyer is an investor like Good Vibes Homebuyers because investors pay cash for houses so there’s no mortgage contingency or banks involved.
b. Home inspection contingency: This is a pre-agreed upon timeframe where the buyer can have the home professionally inspected. If the inspection uncovers issues and the seller chooses not to repair or reduce the sale price, the buyer can terminate the contract penalty free. A good offer when selling your home is a buyer who limits the inspection period to no more than 7-days. Best of all is a buyer who waives their right to a home inspection. Good Vibes Homebuyers buys all homes without a professional home inspection. This affords sellers certainty and significantly reduces the time to close your deal.
c. Prerequisite sale contingency: This contingency requires that a buyer sell their current home to be able to buy yours. If unable to sell, they can escape the contract to buy your home without penalty. Worse is that resolution of this contingency takes a significant amount of time so you could be under contract for months only to have your sale fail at the last minute. A great offer if you’re selling your home is a buyer who doesn’t condition the purchase of your home on the sale of their current home. Good Vibes Homebuyers buys dozens of homes each year and none require the sale of another house. Knowing that your sale is simple and certain gives you peace of mind and allows you to plan your future with confidence.
d. Appraisal contingency: This contingency requires that your property must be appraised by a professional and the professional must certify that your home’s value is, at minimum, the sale price. If it’s below, the contract automatically becomes null and void without penalty. What makes for a great offer when selling your home is a buyer who signs an appraisal gap waiver. This means the buyer will pay the difference between the appraised value and the sale price. What makes for a great offer if you’re selling is a buyer who waives their right to an appraisal, like Good Vibes Homebuyers. Our offers come with a guarantee that the price you accept won’t change.
2. Offers with seriously sizeable deposits
You may find that some buyers won’t request contingencies and are willing to pay an extraordinary option fee and earnest money deposit. Focus on these offers as they are the least risky and have the highest chance of closing. Option fees are non-refundable and commonly range from $10-$100, earnest money deposits typically are refundable and range from 0.5-1% of the sale price.
Astute home buyers know how to grab a seller’s attention. They do this by making you a special offer. For example, they’ll provide a $250 option fee or increase their earnest money deposit to 2-3%. Good Vibes Homebuyer investor Phil Anderson says “if one party offers a $2k earnest money deposit and another offers $6k, to me the latter is much better because it’s harder for that buyer to walk away from the deal.”
Some buyers won’t request contingencies and are willing to pay an extraordinary option fee and earnest money deposit. Focus on these offers – they are the least risky and have the highest chance of closing.
3. Type of deal
You may be presented with a range of offers that provide you with multiple options for selling your home. Having options is what makes for a great offer if you’re selling and with Good Vibes Homebuyers, you’ll receive multiple selling solutions like all-cash, seller finance, lease options, mortgage assumption, and bank financing.
Cash is king in a real estate deal when you’re on the selling side. The sale price could be a little less, but you avoid costly repairs and other complications while enjoying speed, convenience, less paperwork, and worry in the process. Learn how an all-cash offer compares to your other selling solutions by visiting our Your Solutions webpage. To choose the best deal for you, the bottom line is you must have defined goals and match those goals with the offer that achieves them.
1. What other factors signal a strong buyer?
a. Buyers who have been preapproved for a mortgage. Those who are merely prequalified are inferior because prequalification does not guarantee they can get a mortgage. Preapproval does. What makes for a great offer if you’re selling your home is a buyer like Good Vibes Homebuyers who doesn’t need any financial approvals to complete your sale.
b. Buyers who are flexible on the closing date. Whether you need to sell “yesterday” or 6 months from now, a great offer when you’re selling your home is a buyer who can work on your schedule. Good Vibes Homebuyers can close in as little as 5 days and offers Move Later Solutions that make it easy to sell, receive your proceeds, and stay in your house for up to 180 days (about 6 months).
2. What’s another contingency that can derail my deal?
a. Long option periods. Option periods are intended for a buyer to perform research on and inspect your property. The longer they have, the more likely it is that issues will be uncovered (we recommend 7 days) and the more likely your buyer will then ask that you lower your price or provide a closing cost credit. After seeing your house, Good Vibes Homebuyers will make you firm offers and guarantee that the price you accept won't change. Other buyers can't promise you the same.
3. What else can I do to ensure I sell for what I need?
a. Treat every offer like a business deal. You do this by stamping out your emotions. You may feel anxiety, especially when negotiating offers, but there’s an easy trick to overcome these emotions: tell yourself (if you must, over and over) it’s excitement not anxiety. This will help you keep your sanity and do your pocketbook a favor because Harvard researchers found that people who experience anxiety accepted offers too quickly (and they were weaker offers).
Reviewing, negotiating, and rejecting offers is a science and your needs, your neighborhood, and your home’s condition may not always align in your favor. There is a simple and certain way out – selling to Good Vibes Homebuyers is one of the best things you can do for your sanity and pocketbook. Because our focus is on big volume, not big profit, we can pay you thousands more than other buyers.
Free closing costs. Free Local Move. Zero fees. Sell in 5 days. Sell and stay for 180 days. No equity? Still get $10,000 cash!
Picking the wrong investor can leave you scrambling & empty-handed. Learn how to spot the bad from good investors & see the top reasons to pick Good Vibes Homebuyers.
What sounds better - winning or losing? Home investors don't want you to know these 4 magic negotiation tactics because you'll kick their butt and come out a winner!
Good Vibes Homebuyers might be the perfect option for many Texas property owners needing to sell a house. Ask yourself these questions to see if our investors are right for you.
