Picture this: You’re selling your home using Buy Owner® advertising, meaning professional photographs, quality ad descriptions, gorgeous virtual tours. As a motivated seller, you get the word out, hold open houses and, most of all, price your property fairly.

Then, one day, it happens: you get your first offer. You’re thrilled! You can sell your home and move into your next one! Only problem? The offer is lower than you’d expected. A lot lower. In fact, it’s what some might call a lowball.

What should you do?

First of all, don’t panic. Don’t get angry, frustrated or worried, either. This is just the first offer, and now negotiations can begin.

Depersonalize. As much as possible, remove your personal attachments from the home. Think of it objectively as a property that you need to sell, part of a financial transaction only. (Want more advice on depersonalizing for a sale? See Buy Owner Blog article, ”Depersonalizing for a Home Sale”

Know what you need. Look at how much you actually need to get out of the property in order to accomplish your goals, whether that means how much you need to move into your next home or how much you need to turn a profit on the sale.

Do your research again. If you priced your home fairly to begin with, it was based on facts and figures of recently sold properties in the area. Before writing off this low offer, take a look at data that the buyer likely based their offer on: market conditions, area homes for sale, recently sold properties, etc.

For more information on pricing your home, see these Buy Owner Blog articles:
• The #1 Mistake of Home Sellers
• Is it Time to Drop Your Price?
• The Mistake You Can’t Afford to Make
• Why Your Home Isn’t Selling

Begin negotiating. Successful negotiation is all about give and take. If the buyer offered much less than the asking price, counter with a number a little lower than your original request. The goal is to keep the negotiations flowing, arriving eventually at something in the middle, which you can both be happy about. Remember to stay positive and hopeful, both in your attitude and in your interactions with the buyer.

For more information on negotiation, see these Buy Owner Blog articles:
• Negotiating Tips
• 10 DOs for Dealing with Potential Buyers
• 10 DON’Ts for Dealing with Potential Buyers