Pat Kapowich for SJMN’s Market Wise Column
04/04/2009
Q: We keep writing offers that receive no response at all, get rejected outright or lose out to another buyer’s offer. In cases when we lose out to other buyers, we don’t even get a counter-offer. I thought it’s supposed to be a buyer’s market. Don’t these sellers or banks want to sell these properties?
A: Yes, they do. However, the sellers and/or lender’s loss-mitigators will not “give them away.” In other words, if you and your rep are looking for a steal, not just a deal, you’ll keep writing offers until the market shifts. Regarding price, in a soft market buyers often fail to recognize that the “market” has done most of the work for them. This is the environment where families can and should focus on the best home for their lifestyle.
The well-crafted offers-with price, terms and conditions that complement each other-will have a tendency to get accepted outright. This is not the case when one concentrates wholly on the best price. It’s no surprise that flailing buyers and their reps tend to target the price, neglecting terms and conditions. They also tend to write hastily written offers. Finally, the buyer’s rep does not alert himself/herself or the buyer to a basic negotiating concept: Put yourselves on the other side of the negotiating table and ask yourself at every juncture, “Is this acceptable?” If any answer is a resounding ‘no,” you’re not writing offers, you’re killing trees.
Pat Kapowich, SiliconValleyBroker.com, owns Kapowich Real Estate in Cupertino. Send questions to pat@siliconvalleybroker.com.