NEGOTIATING TIPS
Negotiating a home purchase can be trying, frustrating, time consuming, and sometimes unproductive.  There is no simple rule or guide book to negotiating.  Every home seller and home buyer are different and react different ways when it comes to offers and counteroffers.
    I have had deals just about fall apart over a $20.00 electrical plug and I have had sellers accept below market value offers.  (Where they had to bring money to the closing)
   Negotiating requires patience.  You should be flexible and look at the whole picture.  Don't get worked up about the little things.  Is a ceiling fan or a $500 difference in price enough to kill the deal?  You sometimes have to step back, take the emotions out of the equation.  Is the home still a good value at that price?  Have you seen a better home?  Or even a comparable home? Or one with all the features?

You look better to a seller if::
 You're an cash buyer and don't need a mortgage or
 You don't have a house that has to be sold before you can afford to buy
 You're already pre-approved for a mortgage
 and there are not contingencies and you are not asking for sellers concessions
 
In those circumstances, you may be able to negotiate some discount from the listed price. In a buyers market you should be submitting a lower offer.  On the other hand, in a "hot" seller's market, if the perfect house comes on the market, you may want to offer the list price (or more) to beat out other early offers.

It's very helpful to find out why the house is being sold (if you can) and whether the seller is under pressure to sell. Keep these considerations in mind:
*** Every month a vacant house remains unsold represents considerable extra expense for the seller.  If the seller has relocated and still has the house, it may become a bargain.  They have to unload it. There are taxes to be paid, there are payments and utilities to be paid.   The seller wants to get rid of the payments.  Do they have another home?  Have they lost their job? 
***If the sellers are divorcing, they may just want out quickly (I sometimes look in the closets to see if it is a single person in a large home) 
*** Estate sales can sometimes be a deal and sometimes not.  They sometimes yield a bargain in return for a prompt deal.  But the home usually needs work.
***  Bank deals as seen on late night TV are not bargains unless they already have the asking price low.  A bank usually will not accept an offer much lower than the asking price.  And you are buying the house "as is"  which means they are not going to do any repairs.  Many times if it is a bank owned property and it is a buyers market, have your agent watch it.  Sometimes the bank lowers the price in large amounts in order to dump it.

Here are four reasons why you will look better than another offer

Earnest Money: This is a deposit that you give when making an offer on a house. A seller is understandably suspicious of a written offer that is not accompanied by a cash deposit to show "good faith."  The  REALTOR usually holds the deposit, after a deal is made will turn it into his broker who holds it in the company escrow account. However the more deposit, more stronger the buyer's offer will seem to seller. Usually one to three percent of the purchase price is customary. This will become part of your down payment.

Great credit, and easy mortgage:  If you have great credit, lots of assets, a large down payment, or a great credit score.  Let your Realtor broadcast the fact to the sellers agent.  We love "golden people".  If you are a person that can get a mortgage easy, it is one less worry for the seller and his agent.  They will like your offer over somebody that is a first time home buyer getting a 100% loan. 

contingencies contingencies:  You don't have to sell a home in order to buy this one.  They are not going to have to wait to close the sale.

No seller's concessions:  The seller doesn't have to give closing cost assistance or down payment assistance.  If you can afford the closing costs and the down payment you will get the home for less and look better to the seller.  Rather than somebody who needs the seller to pay his closing costs

negotiating negotiating works:
You will have a binding contract if the seller, upon receiving your written offer, signs an acceptance, just as it stands, unconditionally. The offer becomes a firm contract as soon as you are notified of acceptance.

If the offer is rejected, that's it.  The sellers could not later change their minds and hold you to it.
If the seller likes everything except the sale price, or the proposed closing date, or the kitchen table you want left with the property, you may receive a written counter-offer, with the changes the seller prefers. You are then free to accept or reject it or to even make your own counter-offer. For example, "We accept the counter-offer with the higher price, except that we still insist on having the kitchen furniture."
Each time either party makes any change in the terms, the other side is free to accept or reject it, or counter again.   If you want to sell the home or buy the home the key is to keep negotiating.  Once one side stops it is harder to hold the deal together.  Remember once you counter the other side has to accept for it to be binding.

The document becomes a binding contract only when one party finally signs an unconditional acceptance of the other side's proposal.

If you do want to revoke your offer, be sure to do so only after consulting a lawyer who is experienced in real estate matters. You don't want to lose your earnest money deposit, or find yourself being sued for damages the seller may have suffered by relying on your actions.
You could be sued to fulfill the contract.


Remember what the end result is.  Do you really want to buy or sell the house.  Don't get hung up on little things.  Step back and take your emotions out of it.  So they want your kitchen table.  If it isn't a family heirloom, isn't it worth it to throw it in to sell the house. If you figure it be worth a $1000 then subtract a $1000 of the sales price.  Is the sales price what you wanted?  Can you buy another table for $1000.  I have seen deals go south over the dumbest things.
Keep the end result in mind!
You are trying to buy or sell the home at a fair price, don't let little things kill the deal.  You have come this far because you like this home better than all the other homes you have seen.
Sellers need to figure and Calculate their Net Proceeds when comparing offers
When an offer comes in, you can accept it exactly as it stands, refuse it (seldom a useful response), or make a counter-offer to the buyers, with the changes you want. In evaluating a purchase offer, you should estimate the amount of cash you'll walk away with when the transaction is complete.
For example, when you're presented with two offers at once, you may discover you're better off accepting the one with the lower sale price, if the other asks you to pay points to the buyer's lending institution ( or if you have to pay 3% of the closing costs.

Once you have a specific proposal before you, calculating net proceeds becomes simple. From the proposed purchase price you can subtract:
 Payoff amount on present mortgage; 
Any other liens (equity loan, judgments); 
Real estate commission; 
Legal costs of selling (attorney)
Title insurance policy 
Michigan transfer taxes; 
Unpaid property taxes and water bills; 
Your present mortgage lender may maintain an escrow account into which you deposit money to be used for property tax bills and homeowners insurance premiums. In that case, remember that you will receive a refund of money left in that account, which will add to your proceeds.

I will run a net proceed statement so you can get an approximation of what you will walk away with.  (on all the offers you get)