Selling Your Home: Should You Accept The First Offer That Comes?

Taking the plunge to put your home on the market can be nerve wracking. You're opening the door to the unexpected -- will an offer come in? Will the house sell in time? Will it sell at all? These are questions that add the the anxiety some sellers can feel. But, when the first offer comes, you might also feel just as hesitant to commit; maybe something better will come along. Here's what you need to know about processing and accepting offers on a house. 

1. Keep your emotions out of it.

You might feel attached to your home, and you might love it in a way that no buyer can understand with a simple walk through. However, tying emotion to offers that come through is dangerous -- when people offer less than the asking price, you could feel offended instead of taking the offer at face value, or you could feel like people ought to be accepting your counter offer because you know and love the house they are considering. 

When you list your house for sale, it's time to shut the heart out of the decisions and go with your head. Look at the listing and selling prices of similar homes in your neighborhood. Look at the offer and really consider if it's worth waiting for more offers to hit the table. Go over your options with your real estate agent. Keep a cool head and you'll make decisions that are better.

2. Don't be afraid of future regret.

You'll always be plagued with the question, "What if we wait?" This question is amplified when an offer comes in almost as soon as your house hits the market. If you have interest in your house now, surely more and better interest will come later, right? Not necessarily. The first offer can often comes from people who are ready to buy and serious about buying. They are watching for homes in their price range that hit the items on their wishlist. A quick offer can sometimes mean that the potential buyers have been looking for a good fit for months and are jumping at the chance to own your home. Ignoring the early offers and holding out for something better can be risky because you lose the "ready buyers" who have been stalking the internet for new listings, and your home could then sit for many days waiting for other buyers to see your listing and decide they want to move forward.

Holding out is also risky because the real estate market is variable and the market value of your house could decline if you wait. In some cases, the market value could go up, but it would be worse to lose money with a listing that goes progressively more stale than to know you could have made a few thousand more if you had waited. 

For more help, contact a business like EXIT Lakes Realty Premier.