Real Estate: Making win-win deals when you sell | Business

Like I said, selling was easy. And just so you know, that scenario was not a normal market reaction. It was brought on by low interest rates and low inventory which made for a buyer frenzy.

But since the interest rates have increased, the ten over list-price offers over the weekend are not happening. As a matter of fact, after doing some market research in our area the average days on market was between 28-50 days — 30 days used to be the norm. It appears that the 50 days are from people listing their houses too high (not realizing that the market has leveled off) and then having to do a price reduction to get showings to start.

That was good information to know as we were listing a property last week. We made sure we had our list price just right and then were prepared to wait for the offers to come in and not get discouraged if we didn’t have multiple offers over the weekend.

That being said, we were surprised to receive one by Monday morning. It was a little low, especially since we had an appraisal that substantiated the list price. But it was a cash offer and we decided to counter and send our appraisal along with the counter.

As it turns out, the buyer was not trying to low ball us. They needed something. The buyer was an elderly person who was selling their home and using those proceeds to buy ours. They liked our home not just because of how nice it was, but also because it was a ranch style home. And that was important because it meant no steps to climb.

The problem was we had a gravel driveway. That meant the ground could be uneven which could eventually lead to a fall. That would be bad news for our buyer. They were thinking about that possibility when they made their offer and tried to leave enough money from their sale to pave the driveway.

They asked if they gave us over list price, would we be willing to get the driveway put in.

I didn’t know how to answer that right away because I wasn’t sure how much the driveway would cost. But I said I would look into it.

Now you may be asking why I would even consider this. Couldn’t I just sell the house with a gravel driveway to someone else? And the answer is, I could. But here’s the thing: I just told you the average days on the market have gone way up. This is the house we were $35,000 over budget on. School started three weeks ago and we’re getting closer to fall which means the market will be even slower.

All that together means the longer we wait, the longer it will take to sell, the more interest we’ll have to pay and the less profit we’ll make on this deal that’s already been a tough one. Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And so a cash deal now is something to consider, even if we have to put a driveway in to get it.

But here’s the thing, even though they’re not getting a loan to buy our house, this isn’t what I would call a cash deal. They don’t have that money sitting in a bank. They have a buyer buying their current house… who has to get a loan. And even though everything looks good right now, loans fall apart sometimes. And if that happens to their buyer, they don’t have the cash to buy our house.

That driveway is going to cost us about $10,000. And if their house doesn’t sell, and they can’t buy ours, we would just be out that money because the driveway would not increase the value of the house much if any.

That’s a big risk. And I told them that and they understood.

So, what we decided to do is to put it into the contract that we would have the driveway installed shortly after closing. And when that happens, I will manage the job so the elderly buyer doesn’t have to worry about it. I’ve already got the contractor lined up, and all we have to do is hit go once it closes.

They were happy with that scenario because they got the driveway they needed and the peace of mind knowing they had home to move to once theirs sold. We are happy because we got our house sold quickly and we don’t risk losing $10,000. That made for a win-win sell and a great deal for both of us.

Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to www.cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at 678-986-6813.