How to Deal With a Lowball Offer — And Transform It Into an Offer You’re Excited to Accept

When you’re selling your home, there are few things more exciting than receiving an offer... unless that offer is way, way below what you were asking (and hoping!) for.

But a lowball offer isn’t the end of the world! With the right approach, you may be able to take that lowball offer and turn it into an offer you’d actually be willing — and maybe even excited — to accept.

So how, exactly, do you do that?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined strategies for dealing with a lowball offer, and transforming it into an offer you can work with, including:

• Don’t take it personally. Many sellers take a lowball offer as an insult, and as a sign that the buyer is trying to take advantage of them. But there are a myriad of reasons why a buyer might submit a lowball offer, and many of them (like not knowing the market) have nothing to do with trying to “get one over” on you. Getting offended will only make the process more difficult. So, if you get an offer that’s lower than you were expecting, don’t take it personally; instead, just view it as a starting point for negotiations.
• Come back with a counteroffer. If you want to transform a lowball offer into one you’d actually accept, you need to counteroffer, and you need to be strategic about it. First, don’t sell yourself short; just because the buyer went low with their offer doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. Instead, consider giving them a small discount off of the price — for example, $5,000 to $10,000 — and then send them an explanation and/or additional information, like comps of similar homes nearby, or a write-up highlighting all of your home’s top features to support your pricing decision. If the buyer genuinely didn’t realize their offer was unreasonably low, this can help them realize that.
• Negotiate other terms. If you’re still having a hard time coming to an agreement on as high of a price as you’d like, there are other terms you can negotiate to make the deal more attractive. For example, you could ask the buyer to waive certain contingencies. Or if you’ve already purchased another home and are carrying two mortgages, you can ask them for an earlier settlement date, which will eliminate your original mortgage payment sooner, and save you money in the process.