What to Do When You Receive a Lowball Offer

If someone writes you a lowball offer for your home, how should you handle it? Today I’ll give you my advice.

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I know that getting a lowball offer for your home feels painful, frustrating, discouraging, and even offensive. I also know all the terrible—yet justifiable—things that you’d like me to pass onto the buyer who wrote you such a low and insulting offer. It’s very common for both sellers and their listing agents to get so wrapped up in their righteous indignation after receiving a lowball offer that they refuse all communication from the offender. However, the only winner here is ego-gratification, which has a monetary value of precisely zero. Today, I’ll give you a few suggestions for how to respond to lowball offers other than letting your anger get the best of you. I primarily encourage you to always be gracious and to respond with a counteroffer. The fact that someone liked your home enough to take the time to write an official offer on it is already a promising start. There might be various reasons why some buyers choose to send a low offer. Some simply want to test your willingness to negotiate—some sellers have been known to accept discounted offers for strictly personal reasons. Other buyers might send a low offer because they feel that your home is overpriced; if you’ve recently upgraded your home, the buyer might send a lower offer because they think the asking price was meant to compensate for the costs of those projects.

There might be various reasons why some buyers choose to send a low offer.

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It’s not their job to know the value of your home. Most buyers don’t sit and study the market like we agents do when we appraise a for-sale home. It’s our job as agents and sellers to educate buyers on home values. After all, negotiation is how selling a home works, and to tell you the truth, negotiating an offer is the most fun we have in our workday as Realtors. If you are looking for a strong negotiator on your side as you sell your home, or if you have any real estate questions, feel free to reach out to me. Let’s talk.

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1224 Honeywood Lane

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9117 Cranston Court

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578 Langdon Street

What I Learned from “Willpower Doesn’t Work”

I just finished Benjamin Hardy’s “Willpower Doesn’t Work,” and I think it had a message that can apply to all our lives.

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In Benjamin Hardy’s “Willpower Doesn’t Work,” the author suggests that it is ultimately our environment that shapes us, and therefore, the most effective way to make desired changes in your life is by consciously designing and altering your surroundings. Willpower constitutes “white-knuckling” our way toward change, while dictating and enriching our environments means that accomplishment becomes automatic, rather than an effort. The author makes an interesting point that Will Durant’s historical record of the world, “The Story of Civilization” uncovered a secret about some of the greatest people known. They discovered most of them were average people that chose to take a stand. It appears that demanding situations created the need for greatness, and therefore, history was not shaped by great men, but by demanding situations instead. According to Hardy, for us to do our best work and live our best life, we need to put ourselves into a high-stress, peak-performance mode, followed by a high recovery period. The author recommends starting with journaling and visualization each morning at a place outside of your normal environment where you can align yourself with your aspirations before all the world’s distractions consume you.

Do what you can to leap into a demanding situation where the stakes are high, and let it shape you.

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The more choices you have, the fewer decisions you make. So, eliminate some of your options—remove everything that conflicts with your decisions. Keep your closet down to between five and seven outfits to choose between. Get rid of junk food from the house. If you want to spend better quality, uninterrupted time with family, leave your phone in the car when you get home. Unplug your laptop so you that only have a certain amount of time before the power runs out. Create a self-imposed pressure to do what you need to. The author says that sometimes, carrying a heavy load gives us the traction we need to move forward in life. Outsource your motivation to high-pressure environments by competing at a skill level higher than your current one and by seeking out transformational relationships, even if it means you have to pay handsomely to a high-power mentor. Essentially, do what you can to leap into a demanding situation where the stakes are high, and let it shape you. If these messages resonate with you, I encourage you to grab a copy of Benjamin Hardy’s “Willpower Doesn’t Work.” In the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for any questions you have. We’d be glad to hear from you.

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9117 Cranston Court

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8600 Whitehead St

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1400 Sunswept Ter

What Are Rollback Taxes?

Today I’m discussing what you need to know about rollback taxes.

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Today’s topic is what you should know about rollback taxes when purchasing an Ag exempt (agricultural exempt) property. Recently I’ve had an uncommonly high number of calls from buyers wanting to purchase land. I myself live on an acreage and absolutely love the lifestyle and highly recommend the experience. Having an Ag exempt status allows you substantial tax savings. The agricultural exemption is actually not an exemption per se; it is property eligibility for a special appraisal method where you are being taxed not on the market value of the land but instead on this land’s agricultural productivity. Generally, a productivity value is much less than the fair market value, which significantly lowers your property taxes. However, what many buyers and real estate agents know is that if you change what you use your land for, you could be subject to rollback taxes. You could be accountable for three years of rollback taxes plus 5% interest. It used to be five years of rollback taxes and 7% interest up until September 1 of this year, so we got a small break. Rollback taxes are essentially the difference between the property being taxed and the normal market value rate. As you can imagine, it can add up to a massive amount of money. You’ll also have to pay rollback taxes if you subdivide your land.

Having an Ag exempt status allows you substantial tax savings.

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Please make sure you work with a competent real estate agent to guide you through your land purchasing process. As always, if you or someone you know are looking to buy a piece of real estate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, please allow me the opportunity to represent you. I promise I will take excellent care of you. Call or email me with any questions or for more information.

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14912 Gentry Dr

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3019 Pitkin Dr

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4813 Elkhart Dr