In the Westchester Real Estate Market, or even in New York State as a whole, the laws we have in place that govern the buying and selling of real property present this moral dilemma:
“If a Seller Accepts an offer, and informs the buyer of this decision, the seller continues to have the right to market the property, negotiate with other parties, and if he or she wishes, rescind that acceptance and sell to another property for a better price and or better terms. The parties are only bound once a contract of sale is signed and earnest money is deposited into escrow”
With that in mind, if a buyer were to bid on a Home in Scarsdale, Chappaqua, Pleasantville, or anywhere else in the county they would be well advised to A) Have the property inspected by an engineer as soon as possible and B) Have their attorney working quickly and have a contract ready for execution as soon as the inspection is done. Moving quickly reduces the risk that a 3rd party can outbid you.
But what can a buyer do if they are motivated to buy a property that already has an accepted offer?
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Be realistic. Massive discounts off of the offering price are generally off the table for competitive properties
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Bid the offering price. Or even through/over the offering price.
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Waive an inspection contingency or agree to buy “as-is”. This doesn’t mean you cannot inspect and then walk away, it simply means you won’t negotiate after an inspection of “nickel & dime” a seller.
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Pay cash. Or wave the finance contingency.
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Shorten or lengthen the escrow period to better match the seller’s needs.
It’s a shady system, no two ways about it. I was raised to believe “A Deal is a Deal”, but that’s not the story in the Westchester Real Estate market.
Want to soften the blow? How about getting cash back from your realtor in the form of a broker commission rebate? We offer that at NestEdge, and it just might reduce your closing costs.
