Has your house been on the market for months, and all you’ve been getting are blind offers? It can be daunting when you’ve been so excited the first time you put your house on the market, but things don’t go as you expect. The next thing you know, your home value has shrunk, and more and more people are questioning what’s wrong with your home.  

If you find yourself in this situation, one good option is to take your listing down and find an off-market buyer. Second is you might want to reconsider looking through your blind offers.  

The Risks of A Blind Offer For Sellers

If you aren’t sure what a blind offer is, this is a random purchase offer without a further basis apart from your listing.  Blind offers are often sent out by professional home buyers, real estate investors, or real estate agents hoping that distressed sellers would get hooked.

Blind offers are risky for home sellers because the offer price is typically way lower than the market price or the asking price. Additionally, accepting one can tie you with a buyer who may withdraw the bid after seeing your home —  a plight with a potentially huge opportunity cost.

Lastly, if your blind buyer discovers “undesirable” aspects of your home after the sale, you might find yourself in a difficult legal situation. Hence, you should think twice before entertaining a blind offer.

It’s a Blind Offer or No Offer At All

The thing here is, in today’s market, where in-person home showings are discouraged because of the pandemic, the gap between home sellers and home buyers is at risk of expanding. If you don’t entertain a blind offer today, are you willing to wait and risk your home value to decrease more?

This is why virtual home shows are becoming the “next big thing” in real estate marketing, and remote transaction systems are becoming smoother — so buyers can make an informed decision without seeing your home in person.

This indirectly tells us that blind offers today aren’t necessarily that baseless after all. And they don’t have to be that unreliable if you (as a home seller) will disclose everything that your buyers need to know right away. This may mean creating a more far-reaching advertisement about your house, but it’s all going to be worth the effort.

How To Entertain a Blind Offer and Offset the Risks

Blind offers don’t have to be a lost cause. If you receive multiple blind offers, it will not hurt if you allocate time and go through them one by one. Besides, you can always make a counteroffer to your buyer and turn the tide. Moreover, buyers are expected to offer 10%-20% below the asking price because they typically think that asking prices are always inflated. Still, it doesn’t always mean that it’s the maximum price they can afford. 

1. Have Your Home Officially Appraised and Comprehensively Inspected

Hire a reliable property inspector and have your house appraised before putting it on the market. This provides robust evidence that your asking price is highly reasonable when your blind offer is too low. Additionally, if your blind buyer backs out and future buyers become reluctant, you can honestly say that the reason was not that you missed disclosing too many things.

2. Offer an Initial Sale Price That’s Higher Than Market Value

Listing your home at a price higher than its market value can be risky, but it can offset the potentially low offer price of your blind buyers. For example, if your true home value is $120,000, you list it for $130,000, and a blind buyer offers $119,000; at least the difference is not that far from the real home value. Whereas, if you list your house at exactly $120,000, your blind buyer might offer less than $110,000, and that is where the risk will be. 

Moreover, if you have to relist your property at a lower price (because your blind buyer backed out), that can still give an impression of how “motivated” you are as a seller — a highly attractive trait for buyers.

3. Hire a Great Real Estate Agent

The third option is working with a great real estate agent who has experience dealing with blind offers. As much as blind offers are a “no-no,” you’d want to have an agent who sees the opportunities in blind offers. A great real estate agent can help you design a counteroffer and negotiate effectively on your behalf. He/she can also help you identify if a blind offer is worth the risk. 

If you are looking for an excellent real estate agent who can guide you through all kinds of purchase offers, including blind offers, get in touch with us today at HomeSold GA. You can contact us at 770 668 4888.