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The Seattle real estate market has cooled down over the past year or so. You’ve probably heard that already. But what you might not know is that home buyers now have more negotiating leverage, when asking for seller concessions.
In this article, we’ll talk about some of the common examples of seller concessions, and how they might benefit you as a Seattle-area home buyer.
According to a recent article in The Seattle Times, there were nearly five times as many King County homes for sale at the end of 2022, when compared to a year earlier. That’s just one of many metrics that show a general cooling trend within the Seattle-area real estate market.
For more evidence of this trend, we can analyze the current inventory situation. According to a January 2023 report from Realtor.com, the total number of active real estate listings in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area increased by 176% over the previous 12 months.
The bottom line is that the Seattle real estate market has downshifted in a way that’s starting to favor buyers, more so than in the past. To quote the Times article mentioned above:
“[Sellers] put more effort in sprucing up their homes before listing, they slash their prices when homes linger on the market, and they sometimes help buyers cover the cost of getting a lower rate from their lender. Those tactics are a marked change from earlier days of the pandemic, when sellers could count on buyers scrambling to quickly submit offers…”
This ongoing shift puts home buyers in a better position to ask for a concession from the seller. But what is a seller concession, exactly? And how do you know if it’s the right time to ask for one? Let’s explore that next.
A “concession” is when one person or group concedes (or gives) something to another person or group. In a real estate context, a seller concession occurs when a homeowner offers to give something to the buyer. Sellers do this to attract more offers and sell their homes more quickly.
In short, anytime a seller offers to contribute something that helps the buyer close the deal, it’s considered a concession.
Now you know the basic definition of a seller concession, within a real estate context. The next logical question is, when does it make sense for a home buyer to ask for one?
Sometimes, a seller will advertise that they are willing to offer concessions for Seattle-area buyers. They might write it into the listing or put it on the yard sign. In other cases, a seller might be willing to offer a concession without broadcasting it.
Like almost everything in a real estate transaction, seller concessions are completely negotiable. A home buyer in the Seattle area could request some kind of concession simply by including it within the purchase agreement. It has to be written into the contract and signed by both parties.
If you’re working with a Seattle-area real estate agent, he or she should handle this process for you. It’s up to you whether or not you want to ask for a seller concession. But your agent will take care of the paperwork and negotiating aspects of it. They’ll include your request within the purchase agreement, and then wait to see how the seller responds.
Whether you’re buying a home or ready to refinance, our professionals can help.
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No Obligation and transparency 24/7. Instantly compare live rates and costs from our network of lenders across the country. Real-time accurate rates and closing costs for a variety of loan programs custom to your specific situation.