It’s to your benefit to remember that you are the customer when searching for a new home as a home buyer. As a customer, you can often negotiate specific items with a seller on a home that you’re serious about purchasing. Keep reading to unpack seven things you can typically negotiate when purchasing a home.
You can save money by negotiating with a home seller to leave their significant appliances, such as a refrigerator, washer and dryer, and free-standing freezer, behind when they move. Ensure each major appliance is listed on an addendum to the sales agreement if not listed in the original contract.
If a home has been on the real estate market for an extended period or the seller is eager to get rid of the property, they might accept a lower sales price. Your agent should present your lower offer to the seller’s realtor. Even if the seller doesn’t accept your offer, they may counteroffer for a price below the original asking price. Then, you can choose whether to accept the counteroffer, present another counteroffer, or disengage from negotiations. (find more about questions to ask when buying a house).
Sometimes a house, especially a condo or a townhome in a tourist area, is offered for a single asking price that includes the existing furniture. However, if you don’t want or need the furniture pieces, try to settle on a reduced selling price for the home without the furnishings.
According to the Nerd Wallet website, the average closing costs that a home buyer can expect to pay are between 2 and 5 percent of their home loan amount. For example, on a $200,000 house loan, your typical closing costs could range from $4,000 to $10,000. Attempt to bargain with the home seller to pay a percentage of your closing costs. This will reduce the amount of cash that you need to bring to closing.
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Even though it’s typically the buyer’s responsibility to schedule and pay for a professional home inspection on the house, it’s well worth the money. A home inspection provides you with valuable information about current major defects or other problems. As a buyer, you can request from the seller that some or all of the issues be professionally repaired before proceeding with the home purchase.
Outdated, stained, and dirty carpets or hard-surface floors that are chipped, faded, or cracked can put a massive dent in a buyer’s wallet to replace them after purchasing a home. Negotiate with the home seller to provide a specific dollar allowance in the sales contract for new floor replacements. Or reach a deal with the seller to install new floors before you close on the home.
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Sometimes the builder of a new-construction home won’t budge on the home’s asking price but is open to negotiations for other add-on items. For example, bargain with the seller for a fully sodded yard, an in-ground sprinkler system, a backyard privacy fence, additional landscaping, or a central air-conditioning unit.
Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or someone who has purchased several homes, there’s almost always room for negotiations when you’re buying a house. Save yourself some serious cash by negotiating one or more of the seven listed items in this article when purchasing a home. It’s up to you, as a buyer, to initiate the money-saving home negotiations with the home seller.
Marian Sahakyan is a content writer and a journalism graduate from California State University, Long Beach with a background in marketing as well as UI and UX design. Marian’s previous writing and reporting has been featured in several community newspapers throughout Southern California.
