Don't be too quick to sell

Sometimes selling your home is something you've planned for a long time.

You weigh the options carefully and do your research and find out how much homes are selling for in your neighbourhood. You take some time to find the right agent for you and then you set the ball in motion. However, sometimes selling your home can just happen by chance.

Imagine you're at a dinner party and are having a great time. You bump into an old friend and catch up with what's new in each other's lives.

During your conversation you mention that you and your family have been thinking about selling your home and will probably start seriously looking into the details in the following months. After an hour or so you make your rounds of good-nights and head home.

A couple of weeks later, the phone rings and it's your friend from the party. They may have potential good news.

After hearing that you were thinking of selling your home they talked to their neighbours who were looking to buy a house in your neighbourhood and were interested in looking at it.

An appointment is set and the following week they come to see the house. They instantly fall in love and promise that they will be in touch

True to their word, only a few days later you receive a call and the family is willing to make you an offer for your house. The offer seems to be a reasonable amount of money. But is it?

Everything seems to be moving so fast and you haven't had time to hire a real estate agent and get the house on the market. Having this offer almost seems like it could be a dream come true. But could it be too good to be true?

Having an offer presented to you before your house has even gone on the market is called a pre-emptive offer. You may not have had time to have the house inspected or have a real estate professional assist you with finding a reasonable price to sell your house. This type of offer can sometimes put the seller of the home in a really tough situation.

Pre-emptive offers can be one method buyers use to try to avoid competition from other buyers. By presenting an offer before anyone else has seen the house it may entice the seller to not seek out other offers, leaving them with the upper hand.

Pre-emptive offers may seem very appealing on the surface but deep down can be very troublesome. The idea of selling your house is great because you are accomplishing your main goal with very little effort. At the same time you may be selling your house for a lot less than what it is actually worth.

Every homeowner sets out to sell their house at a price that will hopefully allow them to make some money. Breaking even would also be an acceptable outcome but no one wants to lose money.

The use of a professional can help ease the stress of knowing what a reasonable asking price for your home would be. They will be able to tell you the worth of your home and whether they believe offers are within the realistic range.

Accepting a pre-emptive offer can be a huge gamble.

The pay-off could work in your favour but could also take a wrong turn and leave you with less money and a difficult situation to handle.

If you are not working with a professional to handle the offers and contract work for selling your home then you will probably be handling it yourself.

This could all go well but there is a chance that things may occur that you are not ready to deal with.

Using the example above, you would be dealing with someone that you do not know too well. You may be relying on a verbal agreement that they will buy the house for a certain amount.

Everything may seem in order but can take a quick turn for the worse.

Their financing could fall through and they would have to pull out of the deal. Or they could come back saying that they had different terms than what you thought were in your original agreement. This could not only cause grief for you but also but a strain on your relationship with the potential buyers and your friends.

Accepting a pre-emptive offer can work in your favour. But as outlined above, it can sometimes be more of a headache and end up costing you in the long run potential lost time, money and perhaps friends. As always, be sure to weigh your options carefully, and then get moving.


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