Real Estate Broker Finds Success with Reverse Offers

(Boonton, NJ, August 3, 2009) — The buyers had been through the house on two occasions. They loved the home, but they thought the asking price of $439,900 was too steep.

"They kept saying, 'We can't afford it, we can't afford it,'" says listing agent Janice Miller in the August 1 issue of industry newsletter Real Estate Broker's Insider.

So Miller asked how much the buyers would be comfortable paying. The answer: "Not more than $400,000."

Miller approached the seller with the news that a potential buyer liked the house but wouldn't pay the asking price. Miller suggested writing a "reverse offer" - in which the seller puts a great price in writing and delivers it to the buyer.

Reverse offers, last seen when mortgage rates skyrocketed in the late 1980s, have begun to return as frustrated sellers around the nation look for a way to move properties in a glutted market.

Some warn that reverse offers could be a dangerous gimmick that makes sellers seem desperate. But for Miller, the tactic has worked. At first, Miller recalls, the seller responded with an adamant "No, no, no way!" After all, she originally had listed the home at $459,900 before taking $20,000 off her price.

But after a couple days, the seller took Miller's advice and decided to make a reverse offer for $400,000. Miller presented the seller's offer and after a couple of days, it was accepted.

In a down market, Miller tells Real Estate Broker's Insider, "You just have to do things outside the box."

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