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.
Major Appliances
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.
Asking Price
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).
Existing Furniture
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.
Closing Costs
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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Needed Repairs
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.
Flooring Allowance
Outdated, stained, and dirty carpets or hard-surface floors that are chipped, faded, or cracked can put a massive dent in a buyer’s wallet to replace them after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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New-Build Add-Ons
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.
