You've listed your home for sale. After a stressful wait, you receive the first written offer. A glorious day indeed, but now you have a problem. You have to evaluate whether it is good or bad!

Most home sellers tend to think of buyer offers in absolutes. By this, I mean they think an offer is either great or terrible. In truth, offers are usually a mix of good and bad to at least some extent. This means you need to carefully read the offer, understand the individual aspects being covered and how they impact the big picture.

It is important to understand that it will be the rare day indeed when you get an offer that essentially agrees to all your requested sales terms. Even someone that is dying to buy your house is going to negotiate a bit. If you are expecting someone just to agree to your terms upfront, selling your home is going to be a very unpleasant affair.

So, what can you expect in your offer. Most offers come in the tit for tat form. The potential buyer will give you something that you detailed in your listing in exchange for you giving the buyer something they want, to wit, tit for tat.

For example, a buyer might agree to your list price in exchange for you carrying a second mortgage on the home. While you are getting the price you need, the second mortgage makes it a hollow victory. You might be able to live with it, but you might not. What if you need that money to make the purchase on a new home for yourself?

Another area where things can get iffy is escrow. This is particularly true if you have a family. As school years end and begin, moving a home can become tricky. A family buyer may offer something acceptable for your home. The problem, however, is they want to be in the house within 30 days so they can get the kids into school and so on. On the other hand, you may see 30 days as an impossible deadline. Such time conflicts are the stuff of legend in offer, counteroffer episodes.

As you can guess, evaluating offers is rarely a simple matter. It helps to make a chart. Outline what the buyer is asking for beyond your listing information. Figure out what it is going to cost and how that is going to impact the price. After you have gone through all the points, you can see if the total offer meets what you need from the home or doesn't. You can then respond accordingly.

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