How to Win a House Negotiation: 9 Expert Tactics for Home Sellers

It’s important to understand what the seller’s needs are before we begin the process. In order to win for the seller, we need to understand what their goals are.

2. Weigh how much leverage you have

When the competition for housing is hot, sellers have a lot more leverage at the negotiating table. Some agents call this a ‘name your price’ market. Ardolino says, “You can put whatever price you want on it, and because of the intense competition, you’ll see buyers reaching for houses at even the highest prices.”

But markets change, and sellers need to be prepared. “It always comes down to this: a property will sell for what the market will bear.”

In recent years, regional markets have swung from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market or vice versa, with other markets showing signs of rebalancing. When the market shifts in the buyer’s favor, sellers have to consider the pricing, condition, and location of their property in marketing their home.

Here are a few key considerations when determining how much leverage you’ll have in your real estate transaction:

1. What are home inventory levels like? Consider both the national as well as the local market. The lower the inventory levels, the more negotiating power you’ll have.
2. How high (or low) are interest rates? This is generally a good indication of the number of potential buyers you’ll have at your disposal. Rates have come down from October 2023’s peak, but they remain within 5.8% to 6.5%, and sellers may not have as many backup offers to consider as they would when rates were low.
3. How much are comps selling for, and how long? Work with your real estate agent to review the latest comparable sales and analyze current market trends, specifically focusing on the average days on market for similar homes in your area. This will serve as your baseline for the next steps.

3. Price your house right to attract competitive offers

The price you set for your house in and of itself is a negotiation tactic. If you overprice from the start, you risk losing leverage as your home lingers on the market with little (or no) attention.

“I think the most important part of selling a home is your pricing strategy,” Ardolino says. “We spend a lot of time preparing property valuations before we meet with the client to determine what the selling price will be. We use all the tools available to us, from market trends to comparable properties in the community.”

Once Ardolino and his team determine the recommended selling price, he’ll advise his clients to price the property just below that amount to create a competitive bid scenario. “This leads to higher sales prices for our seller clients.”

By pricing the house this way, you also avoid a situation where a price reduction is necessary, which can “taint” the house in the eyes of buyers who may wonder what’s wrong with the property and why it hasn’t sold yet. The last thing you want is for buyers to bring that mentality with them to the negotiation table.

4. Get your house in top-notch condition

You don’t want a prospective buyer coming into your house feeling like it isn’t well taken care of. After all, if the gutters are filthy, lightbulbs are burned out, or paint is chipping, what other (bigger) problems are lurking below the surface?

To prevent this mindset, as well as the low-ball offers that may come with it, invest some time into cleaning, depersonalizing, and making minor repairs to the property before it hits the market. Here are a few key places to start:

• Give your house a thorough scrubbing to remove dirt, grime, and dust
• Declutter and pack away personal items such as decorations and family photos
• Replace broken windows and torn screens
• Fix leaky faucets and toilets (or replace if necessary)
• Patch holes in the walls and give each room a fresh coat of neutral paint
• Remove old or dated wallpaper
• Clean or replace dirty grout
• Repair any HVAC or heating issue

Don’t forget to give the outside of your property some attention, as well. Simple steps such as mowing the grass, removing debris, and keeping the hedges trimmed will go a long way to showing buyers that your property is well cared for.

5. Require a sizable earnest money deposit

An earnest money deposit is a way for buyers to show that they’re committed to following through with the home sale. Buyers make this deposit after they’ve made an offer and you’ve both signed the purchase agreement.

Typically, the earnest money deposit ranges from 1%-3% of the purchase price, but that amount may be higher in a high-demand market. After all, when there are multiple offers on the table, it’s in the seller’s best interest to work with a buyer that they know is committed to following through on the purchase agreement.

As a seller, you don’t have to require an earnest money deposit, but it’s in your best interest to do so. It’s also in your best interest to require a sizable deposit, as it lets buyers know that there’s competition and other offers standing by. This will give you the upper hand when it comes to negotiations, as buyers won’t want the deal to slip away from them.

6. Double-check repair requests with trusted professionals

Although many buyers purchased properties without a house inspection these last few years, Ardolino believes that the market is starting to shift — and that we might be heading back toward a time where repair requests become more common again. “Right now, we don’t have to search for buyers because they’re coming to us. But this might change really quickly with the interest rates rising and the inventory in our market increasing slightly.”

With that in mind, seller negotiations after the house inspection will become more common again — particularly if it reveals an issue with the function and safety of a home.

If you receive a repair request or a request for a repair credit, make sure you double-check the repairs with a professional. First, you want to make sure that the problem identified actually needs to be fixed. Secondly, you want to get an accurate quote on what it will cost to rectify the issue.

“If an inspector says something should be done, we have a repair guy that’ll come in and say, ‘That really is necessary and this is what I would charge to do it,’” says real estate agent Gladys Blum in Salem, Oregon, who has been selling homes for 49 years. “We always get bids on things that are requested so that the seller can see the dollar amount that they would have to pay to do it.”

And remember: sellers aren’t obligated to make any repairs after the purchase agreement is signed. In fact, the only repairs you should really negotiate on at this point are those that weren’t apparent or disclosed when the buyers saw the property.

7. Make repairs that affect the buyer’s loan requirements

It’s one thing to negotiate on repairs that will impact the buyer’s loan requirements (and could result in their financing falling through) — particularly if you’re eager to close on the property and don’t want to start the process over again with another buyer. But it’s another thing entirely to let the buyer get carried away with nitpicky requests. Because cosmetic flaws don’t affect the home’s function, the buyer’s loan, or the home’s value, they shouldn’t be considered a top negotiation priority.

Here is a list of items that should be a hard “no” during the negotiation phase:

• Minor repairs that cost under $100
• Cosmetic imperfections
• Fixing loose door knobs or handrails
• Repairing a broken outlet or lightswitch
• Fixing unsealed windows
• Landscaping work
• Replacing missing or broken smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
• Repairs to a shed or other outbuilding
• Minor cracks in the basement or driveway

Helpful to this process is working with an experienced real estate agent who understands the loan requirements and can guide sellers on what repairs are necessary to close the deal. “We know what things have to be done and what doesn’t, depending on what lender it is,” says Blum.

8. Negotiate closing costs with your ‘win’ priorities in mind

Buyers often bear the brunt of the closing costs because most of the fees are associated with the process of obtaining a mortgage. Because buyers are also writing big checks for the mortgage down payment, as well as the costs associated with moving, many will try to negotiate with sellers to pay at least part of their closing costs.

If a buyer is looking to have you cover the closing costs as part of the initial offer, there are a few ways you might be able to make the negotiation work in your favor:

• Can you use this as leverage to move the closing along more quickly? If a quick home sale is important to you, perhaps you can negotiate to cover the buyer’s closing costs in exchange for a quick, hassle-free sale.
• Ask for the buyers to pay full asking price (or even above asking price) to cover the closing costs you’ll be paying on their behalf.

Again, you’ll want to consider the market and what leverage you have when deciding whether to make these concessions. If inventory is low and you have multiple offers coming in, your best bet may be to see what else comes along — and wait for an offer that comes with the highest purchase price and the least number of concessions.