Don't Appear Desperate

My husband and I almost bought a new house last month. It was a brand new home that the builder was anxious to sell. The builder appeared desperate to unload the home by calling every day (sometimes multiple times in one day), quickly dropping his price and then suggesting we circumvent both of our realtors. After 1 week of this my husband and I got spooked about the deal and withdrew our offer.

You may be negotiating a great deal with a perceived "qualified buyer." Just because the buyer's decision time frame isn't fast enough for you doesn't mean they won't buy. But you can kill the deal by appearing desperate. Avoid the urge to harass a potential buyer or beg. The following constitutes begging:

1. Calling the buyer frequently to check on their decision.
2. Dropping your price without taking something away from the deal.
3. Calling a buyer's cell phone and not leaving a voicemail (caller ID - duh!).
4. Putting fabricated pressure on the buyer: "Can you let me know by 1:00?" or "We are close to selling out." or "This deal is only good until 5:00 today." If you make something up - your buyer will find out.
5. Becoming agitated with your buyer or questioning him. Confrontation kills most deals.

So it looks like we will be staying in our current house for a while longer.