Negotiating With The Buyer Of Your Property

What factors will affect price?

Normally, there tend to be two things which will determine how you negotiate. If someone's a cash buyer, then obviously they're going to be a buyer worth having. It all involves no shame, there's no finance to organize; that's going to make things a bit easier, so you could perhaps afford to be a little bit more flexible with a cash buyer. But the biggest one is completion dates, when they want you to move out. So if someone's turning around and giving you plenty of time to find somewhere to go and live or to sort your affairs out, anywhere between three and six months. The standard completion date in England and Wales is 28 days, so once you've exchanged contracts they only give you 28 days to move out. If someone's willing to extend that and it suits you, obviously you can afford to be a little bit more flexible, again, on your price.

Will it increase the value of my home if I sell it with the furniture?

Ninety percent of people who buy property simply aren't interested in your furniture. They'll buy the lifestyle, but they don't want your furniture. Insisting on selling the furniture with it will be a big negative for most buyers. What I strongly suggest you do is to instruct your estate agent to say on the particulars that the furniture is available by separate negotiation. That covers you in both eventualities.

Should I include carpets and curtains in the sale?

In England it is pretty standard if carpets and curtains and kitchen equipment are being included. But it is very important when your state agent gives you an offer when it is sold you often for exactly what's include that there can be no misunderstanding.

What are sealed bids?

Sealed bids are offers made by buyers which are kept in an envelope until a certain time, then they are all opened at the same time. And at that stage, normally, the highest bidder that's pulled out of the envelopes is the person who gets the property.

Should I take my property off the market once an offer has been made?

You should never agree to take your property off the market once you've accepted an offer. Forty percent of buyers will pull out of the deal before exchange. So the last thing you want to do is find that a buyer takes you four weeks down the line and then suddenly you find they pull out and you've lost four weeks of marketing. The best you can offer a buyer is that you agree not to perhaps negotiate with anybody else for a limited period. But you continue showing; so if they pull out you may have two or three other buyers who are in the pipeline ready to go.

Someone has made an offer on my house - should I bargain for more?

Most buyers, in my experience, have three offers in them. You should never accept somebody's first offer on your property. The chances are if you accept the first offer they'll think they paid too much and will reduce. You should always make sure that if possible you've had your three offers. Once you've got those three offers that's probably the most they've got.

When would you hold a sealed bid?

Traditionally you'd hold a sealed bid when you have two or more buyers competing for the same property. Obviously, there reaches a stage if you've got two bidders bidding against each other where they keep going up, and up, and up one after the other. You reach a stage where you have to distinguish between them or three or four - however many buyers you've got. And a sealed bid may be the only way of distinguishing which buyer you should go for.