When our kids had found a home that they really liked, the next step was to negotiate the price that they were willing to pay for it. Obviously, they were going to offer a lower price than what the seller had listed it at. However, the question was what price should you offer without insulting the seller and at the same time paying too much?
They used a real estate agent who gave them prices to compare for some other homes in the area. Based on that they decided to make an offer that was about 5% below what the seller was offering the home at. This was quickly countered by the seller offering approximately a 1% reduction. After going back and forth a couple of times, they realized they were about $3000 apart.
At this point, they decided to take the offer, simply because it was the house they wanted and they did not want to risk losing this particular home. It also did not make much difference in terms of their monthly payment over the life of the mortgage.
During these negotiations, my son-in-law and I would discuss the price that they were going to submit. What we thought the seller would think of it and what his response might be. I would take the seller’s position and he would take the buyer’s position and we would discuss the options back-and-forth to come up with the appropriate strategy for the offer. It was just not the price that was being discussed, it was making sure that everything they wanted to be included in the house was placed in the offer and included in the price.
I really enjoyed this conversation with my son-in-law because it gave us another opportunity to bond. My daughter was also part of the conversation. However, she was emotionally attached to the house and really didn’t care about the price much. She just wanted the house. It is so important not to get emotionally involved. You need to focus on negotiating a good price for a house in this case. It also caused a little bit of friction between my daughter and my son-in-law as they discussed buying the house and what price they would pay.
This is something to take into account as parents of children who are buying a home. How much you get involved. You may want to make comments about the discussion that is taking place. However, sometimes it’s just as well to stay out of it and listen until you asked. After all, they are the ones who are buying a house. They are the ones who were making mortgage payments and tax payments. It is part of their relationship and they must work out these issues. It is better for the parents to remain uninvolved as much as you can. For more posts about adult children living at home with their parents, click here.
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