The Altman Close

Chapter 24GETTING AN OFFER

If you’re repping the seller and you get an offer, you need contact every interested potential buyer who walked though the house – unless that offer is exactly what you and your client dreamed of. If there’s anyone out there who wants to make an offer for a higher price, you have a very short amount of time to bring in it. Again, in the state of California, real estate offers have a 72-hour expiration date, so by law you have three days to accept or reject. (If you’re working with me, however, it’s 24 hours.) The clock has started.

Call other agents whose clients liked the house. See if they want to make an offer. If good agents hear they have an opportunity to make a buck, but are about to miss out, they’ll get moving. That’s human nature, and it’s our job to create these pressured moments that demand immediate action.

You’re at the table. You’re ready for battle. You’re ready to close. You’re a killer and you already know. This is what all the work was for. Just remember: If an offer is unacceptable, you turn it away, and if you don’t get another, it’s back to square one. That’s the business. You take it off the market, make any necessary updates based on all that buyer feedback, reshoot the visuals, and go through the process again.

Most people don’t have that luxury, though. House sales are based on new jobs and schools, expanding families, and settling estates.

When an offer arrives, analyze it like a seller does. How close is it to list? Is ...