If you are the owner of a fire-damaged house and you plan on selling that house FSBO (For Sale By Owner) you are going to need to hone your negotiation skills if you want to secure the best price possible.
Negotiating – no matter what you are selling but especially if you are selling a fire-damaged house – is vitally important to achieving the outcome you desire.
The good news is even if you lack this skill right now, you can become a powerful negotiator.
What You Need to Know
When selling a fire-damaged house, your goal is to negotiate for the best price and terms. The better you negotiate the prices and terms on the property, the better chance you have at making a nice profit.
One key thing that you need to know to excel at negotiating a good price for your burned house is to understand the local economic conditions.
You must know whether you are operating in a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. A buyer’s market can create drawbacks when you are selling your property that you need to know how to work around.
A second thing you need to understand when negotiating is that cash is king.
Cash can be the ultimate motivator. Cash is quick and convenient. If a buyer offers to pay in all cash you won’t have to wait on the buyer obtaining a mortgage loan, which is a process that can become quite lengthy and frustrating in today’s marketplace.
For this reason, you may want to consider lowering your price for an all-cash bid.
More about the fine art of negotiating
The fine art of negotiating involves making another person feel like they are getting something special while you receive exactly what you want.
Sometimes this involves compromise by altering your plan just enough to make the other party happy to oblige your request. The key to accomplishing this is to be fair and humble, yet immune to aggressive negotiators who may try to take more than they are willing to give.
Compromise is an important skill in any relationship, but giving and taking just enough may be all that it takes with a buyer for you to sell your fire-damaged house quickly and for a profit.
When it comes to negotiating, try to avoid a potential conflict by speaking in a charming, lighthearted manner.
If you make a potential buyer angry the whole deal could collapse. Therefore, when you are dealing with a possible buyer who becomes annoyed, just respond nicely. Try to use your sense of humor to calm the buyer and help him or her see your point of view.
Seek a larger earnest money deposit
When you are the seller of a fire-damaged house, you want to negotiate a larger earnest money deposit to decrease the likelihood that your buyer walks away from the deal.
Losing the buyer could cause expensive delays in selling your property for a profit. You want to sell your property as quickly as possible. Requesting a large earnest money deposit — from $1,000 to $5,000 — is a great way to ensure that your buyer follows through with the purchase.
With a larger deposit like this, a buyer who puts down that large sum of money should be hesitant to walk away from the deal and have his or her earnest money deposit forfeited.
Practice give and take
Effective negotiating involves giving and receiving. When a buyer asks you for something, you may agree to give it but you should always ask for something in return.
You should always negotiate with an open mind and a willingness to honor the other party’s requests, as long as you are also benefiting from the agreement.
Never act desperate
If you appear desperate to make a deal work, then the buyer may sense that and try to take advantage of you. With your property, always maintain a cool detachment as if you can take an offer or leave it on a whim.
Do not allow frustration, impatience, or a lack of confidence to influence your decision-making ability. Your decision to sell your fire-damaged property should always be made strictly on facts and figures.
Be diplomatic
Sometimes buyers may be pushy, overbearing, or even condescending. If you are tempted to get angry, annoyed, or insulted, stay calm.
Keep your eyes on the prize of selling your fire-damaged house and being able to move on with your life.
Want to avoid negotiating?
If you don’t feel comfortable negotiating the sale of your fire-damaged house another option is to sell it directly to We Buy Fire Damaged Houses.
When you contact us, we examine your house and if it meets our qualifications we make an offer. That’s all there is to it.
There are no stressful negotiations. You can either accept the bid or walk away.
If you do accept the offer, we pay in all cash so that you can get your money fast and move on with your life.
Here are just a few of the benefits of working with us:
Health Benefits –
A fire damaged home often has toxic materials in it that can cause sickness.
Time Benefits –
Restoring a house is time-consuming and can take many months. Selling a fire damaged house can be easier than living in a construction zone or being displaced for a long period of time. Plus remember, we are often able to close within seven days!
Financial Benefits –
Selling your house after a fire is typically much cheaper than the expensive repairs and cleaning costs associated with home restoration. Hiring a general contractor is costly and comes with mandatory inspections and construction permits, not to mention possible fines and delays.
Emotional Benefits –
It’s not uncommon for individuals to feel uncomfortable returning to a fire damaged home even after a full restoration. We have even heard of people still smelling smoke and fire after returning to their restored home, though whether this is psychosomatic or a heightened sense of smell remains unclear.
Financial Benefits –
Most people don’t want to buy a fire damaged home for sale. Even if the fire damaged property has been fully restored, most states still force the seller to disclose the property’s history of fires to any prospective buyers.
Stress Benefits –
Some people simply want to avoid dealing with city inspectors, contractors, insurance claim adjustors, real estate agents and other parties who may not have their best interest in mind when restoring their fire damaged property. They would rather get the cash for their burned down house for sale quickly and move on.
To see if you qualify for a free, no obligation quote on your fire-damaged house, fill out the short form below.