Real estate sellers are average people in a multitude of situations. Some sellers need to sell now, some sellers can wait a few weeks, and other sellers may just be curious what their homes will sell for in today's economy. With that said you may be thinking it will be difficult to determine what each unique seller truly wants from the sale of his or her home.
In reality you can rely on human nature. Sellers want 1. the most amount of money 2. the fastest possible way they can get their hands on it. Every seller will have a set minimum price in their heads that they will take action and sell their home for. This dollar figure is called the seller's action threshold. With this basic understanding we can now continue our discussion as it relates to creating win-win purchase offers between your seller and you as an investor.
It is invaluably important to know and understand “what sellers want” because we need to demystify the thought that every home seller has unique hot buttons. While it is true that sellers will have different and unique exterior pressures pushing them to sell, a common thread from speaking with thousands of sellers is “as much cash as possible as fast as it can be received” is their vocal request.
What this does not mean to you? This does not mean that you are prepared to pay a cash price that meets the seller's current action threshold. If we paid each seller what they asked we would be out of business shortly in most cases.
So what does this mean to you? This means that you will be educating the seller on their multiple selling options. Cash is king and if a seller wants all cash today they must understand you pay a discounted price for the home. If the seller will accept a creative solution where cash is paid over time or at a later date or in trade a much higher price can be negotiated.
Let me say this another way. When dealing with sellers that want the most amount of money they can get which meets their action-threshold in the shortest period of time we will not purchase every home we set an appointment with. Often times our goal should be to educate a seller, understand their situation, and make them multiple purchase offers to buy their property, perhaps even an offer that does not require us.
I started this article by saying that, “sellers are average people”. Sellers are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters and sons. Do not aim to take advantage of any seller. If you are able to help a seller by buying their property while creating a profit for yourself the deal can be win-win. If the seller does not accept your offer and instead goes with another buyer be happy for this seller, they have sold their headache and can now move on with their lives. You too have likely been in a situation in life where you needed to sell something fast. It does not feel good to know that someone else sees you only as a dollar sign and may be trying to take advantage of you.
The title of the piece does not say “After 10 Years I Now Know What All Sellers Are Looking” but rather “Almost All”. There are exceptions to the rules which I will discuss in a later post. In short sellers have agreed to sell to me even after receiving a higher price elsewhere for their home. These are the exceptions and there is good reason for their decisions.
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