Buyer re-negotiating after an accepted offer

[laurie_l]

Hello, we are currently listing our house via the flat fee HGMLS service.

Their agent emailed us last night and said the buyers have now decided to continue negotiations, and they offered $7k less than the agreed upon price of $287k. Wow. Seems to us like playing games and our trust in their word has been shaken. We know we should not take anything personally and that nothing is for sure until a contract is signed, but how do we react to this kind of negotiation? Is this normal in negotiations? We have bought and sold many homes but this seems strange. Any advice would be most welcome! Thanks!

Laurie

[showtime]

Hi Laurie, re-negotiating after an offer has been accepted or negotiating after a home inspection in NYC is actually a fairly common tactic used by more savvy home buyers. While it's certainly not the nicest thing to do, it's certainly something that they are allowed to do. In fact, an accepted offer doesn't mean much at all in New York because only fully executed contracts are binding! This means that either party can re-negotiate or back out before contracts are signed.

Here are some tips on how to negotiate as a seller in NYC, and remember that you can play games too and accept multiple offers and negotiate multiple contracts. In fact, buyers are first to act and will sign first and hand over a contract deposit. However, you as the seller are last to act and aren't bound until you counter-sign. This means you could conceivably shop a signed contract (by the buyer only) around with competing buyers to see if someone will pay more.

Best of luck to you and please remember to check out the great blog that Hauseit runs and this forum if you have any more questions!

[lower_nyc]

Hello, we are currently listing our house via the flat fee HGMLS service.

Their agent emailed us last night and said the buyers have now decided to continue negotiations, and they offered $7k less than the agreed upon price of $287k. Wow. Seems to us like playing games and our trust in their word has been shaken. We know we should not take anything personally and that nothing is for sure until a contract is signed, but how do we react to this kind of negotiation? Is this normal in negotiations? We have bought and sold many homes but this seems strange. Any advice would be most welcome! Thanks!

Laurie

Question: Can $280k (the renegotiated price) still be considered as being in the range of 'fair value' based on the comps, etc.? How long have you been on the market? What is traffic like for your listing, do you have any other current offers, and did you receive any other offers prior to this one?

How to respond to the buyer's renegotiation tactics depends largely in part on answers the aforementioned questions. If you've been listed for over 90 days, traffic is lukewarm and/or you haven't received any other offers, it would be prudent to consider accepting that offer or perhaps going back with a 'best and final' which is very close - such as $282,500. Obviously you'll have more leverage to stand firm at $287k if you recently listed your home, have other offers and/or traffic at your open houses is robust.

Good luck!