12 House Buyer Motivations - Some you will never hear

Posted on October 3, 2008 
Filed Under Buying Your New Home, Listing and Selling Your Home, Valerie Zinger

If you are selling you home, you will want to know how motivated a buyer is to obtain your property.  Knowing the buyer’s motivation would help you determine how much you can push on your asking price and if you can expect to get even more than this.  Here are some buyer motivations:

  1. Prices are dropping. It is time to buy.
  2. This specific house is a steal. We have to buy it.
  3. We need a bigger house. Our family is growing.
  4. We are getting married and, with the two incomes, we can afford a house.
  5. My current house is too big. I need this smaller house.
  6. This house is in excellent shape. Let’s buy it and not have to worry about renovations.
  7. This house has wonderful feng shui. I love it.  Let’s get it.
  8. My company has moved me and I need to buy in this new city.
  9. I can afford to live in this neighbourhood.
  10. I know the people/grew up in the neighbourhood and want to move into this area.
  11. I sold my house and urgently need a place to live.
  12. I need to be in this school division for my children’s special needs.

You might never know the real reason but you can get clues from what the buyer agent tells you and from the type of offer / counter offers that you receive on your home.  If the buyer loves your home, then there will be flexibility and likely a good first offer.  If the buyer will take your home as  “good enough” or as one out of two or three equally desirable choices, then the offer / counter offers is likely to reflect this. 

Your most difficult buyer is lukewarm to the house and fence sitting between properties.

Photo credit:  Sitting on the fence @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxypar4/419947468/

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