What Should I Offer on this townhome? This is a common question that I get when I have been working with a buyer and we see a home that they like. If you are currently a buyer in the Vancouver Real Estate market please read this post. Every townhouse, condo and detached home in East Vancouver will be priced with its own strategy in place. Perhaps the sellers priced low to encourage multiple offers? Perhaps they priced high to see what they can get? Perhaps they priced it accurately to let the market decide?
The, “What Should I Offer” question comes up in nearly 100% of the offers that I write. With this being said each time will be a different response depending on the situation. Let’s look at both situations.
No Offers – The home has been on the market for over a week
If there haven’t been any offers and you know you are the only offer then you can typically be a bit more aggressive. First, we want to examine why this didn’t receive any offers.
- Priced too High – If they priced the home too high and people were scared off by the price then we want to find out if that is the seller’s bottom line. If they are not negotiating then it really makes it simple. You pay what they are asking for or you walk away. Typically, however, sellers will budge on the price slightly. What we try to do here is find the balancing act between price negotiations and the finer details in the contract. This could be dates, furniture, or anything that may be important to you in the contract. The market is still very active so huge price reductions are still unlikely.
- There is an issue with the building – Often homes do not sell if there is something wrong with the building. We will want to find out if they had any other offers that fell through to see if an inspection was potentially the reason for the collapse. If the strata documents have some issues we can potentially use upcoming costs to help negotiate.
- There is an issue with the unit – Often times what you need can vary from what other people may need. Some people love ground floor units whereas others don’t find them secure enough. Maybe you want a townhome with split bedrooms and others want bedrooms on the same floor. Unique floorplans can take longer to sell. This could work in your favour if it is a floorplan that you like.
With grace, we can put in an offer that shows that we are serious but taking into consideration the buyers needs more than if it were a multiple offer scenario.
Multiple Offers – Taking offers at a specific time on a specific day
Over the past 2 years, Mondays and Tuesdays have been the days where most sellers look at offers. This gives buyers a chance to see the house at the open house and prepare their documents for Monday or Tuesday. If there is only 1 other offer it will be different then if there are 5 offers. Multiple offers have become the norm and put all control with the seller. This means that buyers need to offer the dates that the seller wants, and typically be subject free (meaning if they accept your offer it is a done deal).
If you find a property that you love and it appears that there will be other offers we need to look at a few things:
- How was the townhome priced? Was it low to receive multiple offers? We can look at other townhomes nearby and others in the building that have recently sold.
- Is the seller going to give us another chance or will they just accept the best offer on the first go around? Sometimes they come back and allow you to try to strengthen your offer
- How does this home compare to others that we have looked at? What did those sell at?
- Does your agent know the selling agent? This can help if there are multiple negotiations.
- WHAT IS IT WORTH TO YOU
When it comes down to multiple offers it essentially comes down to paying what the property is worth to you. What would you be willing to lose this property for? We can do everything in advance and go in subject free but as a buyer, you need to decide what you are comfortable with.
If you are starting the process of trying to find a townhome, condo or single family home in East Vancouver give us a call. You want to make sure that you are working with a Realtor that is working for you and not the seller. We will guide you through the process and help you navigate the ever-changing market.
