Everybody want lo sell in a seller's market. Every investor enjoys having many buyers trying to outbid one another and running up the price. In a sellers market, anyone can sell and make a profit.

Its more challenging to produce profits when the supply and demand relationship is turned upside down. In a buyer's market, you have to compete with an excess of sellers. Without enough buyers to go around, prices fall and sellers have to make concessions to close the sale. The problems associated with a buyers market invariably translate to lower profits. Five ideas to help you to sell in a buyer's market are;

1. Consider carrying a second mortgage. Even though you might prefer to get all of your equity at closing, you might have to delay receiving a part of it. To make your deal more attractive than the deals being offered by other sellers, consider carrying a mortgage- While this delays your getting all of your proceeds, it does produce interest income. In calling this a "second" mortgage, we assume that the buyer will finance the majority of the purchase price through a conventional lender. Invariably, such a lender will insist on being in first position (meaning it Jets paid first in the event of a default); so the second mortgage is an alternative available to you to help the buyer close the deal, but you will be in line behind the other lender.

Another advantage in earning a mortgage is that you might qualify to treat part of your gain as an installment sale. That means the gain is taxed only as it is received. So when you are getting repaid gradually over a number of years, the profit¡ªand the tax¡ªis spread out over time. Whether you qualify to treat this situation as an installment sale depends on how the deal is put together, so you should talk to your tax adviser.

If you recognize the need to carry a mortgage in order to close the deal, but you still want to get your money out, there is yet another way to go. You can get through the deal and then sell your contract to someone else. When this occurs, you will be expected to accept a discount. For example, let's say you carry a 530,000 second mortgage. After the deal is closed, you look for someone to buy the contract. Commonly, pension management companies like to buy up second mortgages at a discount so their clients can invest pension funds. Other types of companies look for deals like this, too. You might be asked to take a discount. For example, if the deal offered to you is a 30 percent discount and you accept, you will get S21.000 to sell the note.

Some real estate investors believe that carrying a note facilitates a sale in a slow market, and also helps defer a part of the tax bite. This is also a form of diversification, with some of your capital invested in equity (ownership of real estate) and part invested in debt (lending money through the second mortgage).

2. Reduce your price. Some sellers resist the suggestion that they need lo reduce their price. To be realistic, market value reflects the lowest price a seller is willing to accept and the highest price a buyer is willing to pay. Therefore, if no buyers put in offers at the original asked price, then you are above the market, at least for the moment. A reduction in price might be necessary. Some buyers automatically assume that the listed price is always set high to allow room for negotiation. This might be true, but you need to be able to assess realistically the price you're asking, not as il relates to other prices on the market, but in terms of how many offers you get (if an)'), and how far they are below your asked price.

In setting a price, also be aware that a property can have several different "prices." A quick-sale price (bargain price) will be lower than a firm price. If you are firm, that means you're willing to wait indefinitely for a full-price offer. At times, the price might be negotiable against the cost value of work that needs to be done. Sellers might be willing to negotiate for a lower price in exchange for buyers assuming responsibility for deferred maintenance.

3. Offer to pay the buyer's closing costs. One concession that carries a lot of appeal is an offer to pay the buyer's closing costs. Some might call this a gimmick because, compared to the seller's costs, the buyer pays very little at closing (other than the costs of getting financing). Still, the idea gets attention and has a certain attraction that many buyers can't resist. It certainly makes your property more alluring than a comparable property that could require several hundred dollars more at closing.

Such an offer can be made as part of negotiations as well. For example, you might offer to pay the buyer's closing costs in exchange for a full-price offer. While this creates an outcome identical to accepting a lower price without paying costs for the buyer, this idea might have greater appeal to someone who considers oneself to be a bargain hunter. This is more of a marketing and negotiating strategy than an economic one.

4. Offer to fix defects as pan of the deal. You might be planning to paint the house or put on a new roof as part of preparing for the sale. In a buyer's market, you can offer to perform that work for free as pan of the contract negotiation. This enables you to argue price with greater leverage, since you are making concessions to the buyer,

5. Offer to include personal property. If the house includes furnishings, you can also offer to include some (or all) as free property with the deal. You might be able to avoid moving and storing unneeded furniture by using it to close a deal. Some types of items, like built-in systems, pool tables, hot tubs, and other luxuries are especially appealing to new buyers. You can also offer to include appliances that were not originally pan of the deal. You face an uphill struggle in a buyer's market. When the real estate market is extremely slow, you might even have to delay your decision to sell preferring instead to refinance to get out cash. You may want to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, waiting for the market to improve.

 

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