Surprising Reasons Home Sales Fall Through, and How to Save a Deal helps sellers manage expectations when selling in Fall 2022. Are you a seller who has listed their home, only to have a deal fall through? Hi, I’m Kimmy Rolph and I represent sellers on The Main Line and as we are seeing the seller market cool slightly, there are inevitably going to be deals that fall through and this is really frustrating for sellers. You go through so much to list your home for sale, from staging, to organizing, to interviewing agents, to finally listing and YAY! Offer accepted, then to be disappointed by a deal falling through, is really agonizing. I want to share some of the most common reasons deals fall through and how you can insure that you have protected yourself from this, and my strategies for saving deals, and protecting my sellers from disappointment. First let’s discuss frequency. According to a survey by Cinch Home Services of 1000 buyers and sellers ⅕ deals fell through. According to the survey, 16% of deals fell through due to buyer’s job loss and in 23%, buyers pulled out because they were afraid of a recession. While many buyers express these fears in terms of backing out of contracts, the reality is buyers may not actually be able to afford to purchase a home. As a realtor who represents many buyers on The Main Line as well, it is my job to be sure that they are prequalified and are able to purchase a home. Most realtors will not take on clients who are not prequalified, and as a seller you can opt not to enter into an agreement unless this provision is met. Be sure that the preapproval letter is less than 30 days old as well, since rates may change and terms. Another reason that homes deals may fall through is that the home appraises for less than what buyers offer. According to the Cinch survey, 35% of deals that fell through during the past year were because a home appraised for significantly lower than the purchase price. Why does this happen? How can you save this deal? This frequently happens when homes are priced incorrectly. Your home should be priced within 10% of other homes on the market, or homes which have been bought or sold in the last six months. You can do this research prior to listing, just to get an idea of what the ballpark would be. When you go to interview your local realtors, keep in mind that if they are advising well above 10%, this is a red flag and you could see either a deal fall through, or your home remain on the market. Lastly, one of the most common reasons a deal falls through is due to something found during the inspection. According to the Cinch survey, 38% of home purchase deals that didn’t close in the past year was due to something found during a home inspection. During the past two years, sellers truly had the upper hand and many realtors and buyers, in order to secure a home, would waive inspections or contingencies. Since the market is cooling, we are seeing more buyers coming back with inspections and contingencies. I would not advise a buyer or a seller accepting offers without certain contingenciese. Remember contingencies are not an intentional obstacle to a deal, they are legal instruments that protect BOTH buyers and sellers in a transaction. Selling your home on The Main Line should be a smooth process, with proper pricing, careful consideration of contingencies, and buyer qualification. I represent sellers on The Main Line and specialize in providing 5 star service, see my resources below and do not hesitate to contact me to find out the next steps and strategies I use to list Main Line homes.
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