Top tips for negotiating a purchase price
Negotiating a purchase price can be a stressful experience. It’s what decides whether you’ll be a homeowner or going back to the drawing board to try again. Therefore, the negotiation stage is something that you want to get right. In this article, we’ve put together our top tips to help you negotiate the best price for your dream home.
Find the right agent
Buyer’s agents are seasoned negotiators. Negotiation is a core part of their professional expertise, so finding a good buyer’s agent can make a big difference to getting the results you want. Talk to as many agents as you can. Spend time getting to know them. Ask questions to figure out who has the best knowledge of your area, the type of property you want and where the market’s going.
As well as having strong negotiation skills, buyer’s agents use their knowledge of the property market to negotiate the best price, such as changing market factors, and the strengths and weaknesses of different homes and areas.
But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t things that you can do to support the success of your negotiation, such as…
Be prepared
It’s easy to get knocked off course in a negotiation if you’re not totally sure about what outcome you want to get out of it. Clearly identifying what you want – and, importantly, what you don’t want – will help you stay on track to achieve the best results you can.
Before entering into a negotiation – even if an agent’s doing the negotiation for you – it’s important to invest time in preparation. This means researching, brainstorming, mentally preparing and planning the steps you’ll take as much as possible. Do as much of this as you can in partnership with your agent to make sure that you’re on the same page and that you’re getting the most out of their expertise.
Get pre-approval for your loan
Being prepared also means obtaining pre-approval for your home loan so that you are able to secure the home right away. However, remember that this doesn’t mean rushing into any decisions. Being ready can give you leverage, but it also means you have the flexibility to say no if the negotiation doesn’t go your way. Which brings us to our next point…
Be willing to walk
When negotiating, you should always be willing to walk away if you’re not getting the right results. If you aren’t prepared to walk away, you can’t negotiate from a strong position and you’re at risk of settling for outcomes that fall short of your goals.
