From the WSJ Real Estate Archives

Home Sellers Should Run
From These Buyer Types

by Marshall Loeb
From MarketWatch
April 06, 2007

Are you selling your home? Then you should know what -- or whom -- you're dealing with, advises Michael Corbett, the author of "Find It, Fix It, Flip It!" and the new "Ready, Set, Sold!" guide to selling a home.

Most buyers fall into one of three categories, he says. You'll find buyers searching for a dream home, buyers looking for a great home at a fair price and buyers scouring for the next bargain.

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The dream-home searchers will probably pay full price if they find the place they want. The great-home shoppers aren't going to offer full price but will be especially willing to negotiate. The bargain hunters? They thrive on finding the best price and may be looking for a fixer-upper.

If your house is priced correctly and is in good shape, you probably won't encounter the bargain hunter. But you will find three types of buyers among dream-home and great-home shoppers that aren't going to serve your bottom line. These are the buyers you want to avoid, warns Corbett:

  • The Zero-Percent Down Buyer. If your home is setting a selling-price high mark for comparable homes "a mortgage company might find it challenging to appraise your house for buyers with little or no money down," writes Corbett. "You'll have to put your house back on the market again when your buyer's mortgage request falls through."
     
  • The Bully Buyer. Nobody likes a bully and chances are you're not going to like this type of buyer either. You will be inundated with a list of things that are wrong with house -- all while presenting an offer. The inspection process? It will be a nightmare. If you detect a bully, move on. "This bully approach is a prelude to endless negotiations, and his or her trying to obtain concessions by nitpicking on the disclosure and the inspection."
     
  • The Sight-Unseen Buyer. You may get an offer from someone who has only seen photos of your house. But that can signal a trick up the sleeve. No one is going to buy a house without seeing it -- this buyer just wants to tie up your house to take it off the market and make a decision later.

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