Selling your home, AS-IS, and Requesting Repairs

Yes a strange title for a blog but follow my thought process. Your seller negotiates his or hers bottom price for the sale of their home. They feel like they are "giving their home away" and will not go a penny lower. Then the buyer has the home inspected. A few days later the seller receives a list of items the buyer wants repair. Repairs that can run into the thousands of dollars. The seller becomes frustrated and is ready to kill the deal. As an agent representing the seller what do you do??? After seeing this happen, quite frequently, I am inclined to look at some different strategies when it comes to marketing/selling a home: •Market the home AS-IS from the beginning-Personally I do not believe this is a good strategy. From my experience buyer's see a home AS-IS and smell blood. They sense desperation from the seller and are inclined to put in a much lower offer for the home. The buyer bids lower in anticipation of putting money back into the home for repairs. •When negotiations are in progress, good communication needs to take place. In other words the sellers need to convey to the buyers that this is my bottom price and I will not do any repairs on the property. I think this is a better strategy but I believe you will lose a buyer who has no leverage in asking for repairs. So to my fellow agents: Be very clear with your seller. In other words make them aware that a buyer will ask for repairs on their property. Taking away that right, through AS-IS marketing, will cause buyers to look at your home differently. In the end I would advise my seller to anticipate paying for some repairs. Come see us if you are in the North Atlanta, Lake Lanier, North Georgia area! www.randywellsteam.com