There’s lots to consider when choosing the best offer for your property. Though it may sound counter-intuitive, the offer that best fits your needs may not be the highest. In our latest post, we will offer tips to help you choose the right offer for your Pennsylvania house.
Having more than one offer on a home that you need to sell is a best case scenario! Any seller would love the problem of trying to decide between multiple offers. However, you need to be thoughtful and intentional in how you go about deciding which offer to chose. Just because the offer looks good on paper, doesn’t mean it’s the best one for your particular situation. Keep reading to learn more about what to consider when deciding which offer to accept for your house in Pennsylvania.
Look at the True Profit
When looking at an offer on paper, it’s important to take into consideration the “bottom line” number which is deducts the expenses you’ll incur from the offer price. These costs will include at a minimum closing costs which can run anywhere form 2-5% of the purchase price. If the buyers are needing “seller help” this is also a huge thing to consider. Some buyers, depending on how they’re financing the house can actually ask for up to 6% seller help to go towards closing and other approved costs. This will translate to significantly lower profit on your side even if the offer price is higher. You should also look at if the buyers are requiring any repairs in order to sell or are asking to have the property inspected. Almost 100% of the time, if a buyer gets an inspection they will ask for items in the house to be repaired which can definitely add up. Also, keep in mind that if they’re asking for other items to be included in the sale (i.e. appliances, lawn mowers, patio furniture, etc.) that you’ll need to keep the cost to replace them in mind as well. If the idea of these unexpected costs sound like something you don’t want to deal with, you can always sell your house directly to We Buy Lancaster Houses. There are never any repairs needed when we buy your house and certainly no seller help!
How Are Your Buyers Financing the House?
While some buyers can offer to pay in cash, this is definitely not the norm. Most buyers, especially traditional buyers, will definitely need a loan from the bank in order to make the purchase. Banks require an incredible amount of information, details, and sometimes even require the seller to do things to the house in order for them to finance. This process can also take a considerable amount of time as the banks do not work quickly on their side. Also, if the buyer’s finances change for some reason prior to the sale (i.e. lose a job, buy a new car, etc.), the bank can pull the financing at anytime. This can leave the seller having lost WEEKS of time and being back to square one!
Cash buyers on the other hand can close much faster closing speed without jumping through the hoops required by a Bank. The offer is much more likely to go through as you are not bound by the results of any appraisal that might be done on the property. With a direct sale to We Buy Lancaster Houses, you won’t have to worry about any hassles or waiting. The funds are available to purchase your Pennsylvania house within days. We pride ourselves on making the process as quick and simple as possible without the typical hoops to jump through of a traditional sale through a Pennsylvania Real Estate Agent.
Understand the Timeline
If you’re in a situation where you need to make sure the house sells in a certain amount of time, working with an average buyer can be a disaster. Even if they say they could close in 30-45 days, if they’re working with a bank those timetables change all the time. If you can minimize your the time that you still need to own the house prior to selling, that can really help your profits at the end of the day by avoiding holding costs. These can include insurance, utilities, mortgage payments, maintenance, etc. and they will be your responsibility until the house is sold. By selling your house directly to We Buy Lancaster Houses, we can insure that you know when the house is going to close and there won’t be unexpected holding costs that are out of your control due to the priorities of a typical retail buyer or their bank.
Trusting the Buyer and their Representative
When selling a house by listing it on the MLS through a Pennsylvania Real Estate Agent, you never know what type of buyer you’re going to get. In fact, many sellers are surprised by how little they know about the buyers until they meet them at the closing table weeks after the offer was accepted. Because real estate agents are paid on commission, they NEED you to accept their clients offer in order to get paid. While it’s not always ethical, some agents will tell you what you want to hear in order to get you to accept their client’s offer, even if it’s not the feelings of the buyer’s themselves. This can lead to huge issues when the agent is saying one thing in the beginning and then their buyers minds seem to change once you’re under contract.
On the other hand, when you sell you house to We Buy Lancaster Houses, you will work with us directly from the beginning. Because you’re working direct, you can make sure that you understand the arrangement in detail and that we’ll be true to our word. You also won’t need to deal with speaking through your agent, to the other agent, to the buyers to get your point across. You tell us directly!