Reverse Offers, Sellers Beating Buyers to the Punch!

One of the benefits of being in a large office is the ability to meet and discuss current trends in our local market with many Realtors.  Today the topic of reverse offers came up. 

One may ask what exactly is a reverse offer?  In short, its a situation where the seller writes an offer for a buyer on the seller’s own home.  The seller knows that the buyer is interested in the seller’s home but the buyer is afraid to write a contract on it.  The seller preempts the buyer and writes the offer for the buyer on the seller’s home and the offer is presented to the buyer.  Huh!  To quote a friend of mine, “this sounds ass backwards.”  Well on the surface it is but if you look a little deeper, it can lead to a dialogue that eventually could lead to a sale.

The case in question involved a peninsula home that had been languishing on the market for over 9 months.  The buyer had seen the home many times and liked it, but felt the home was incorrectly priced and didn’t want to make an offer for fear of overpaying.  The seller didn’t want to reduce the price (sounds odd doesn’t it) but felt that the home would sell if he could get a dialogue going with the buyer.  The seller talked with his listing agent and it was decided that the listing agent would write a contract on the home.  The name, price and terms were completed as if the buyer was submitting the offer.  The only difference is that the seller signed the contract and it was presented to the buyer for his approval.

Currently, the buyer and seller are in negotiations on that home.  Will there be a meeting of the minds resulting in a ratified contract?  Only time can tell.  What is known is the reverse offer got the principles involved in a dialogue that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.  It also shows that in this changing market, experience and creativity are at a premium.