This is the second post in a two-part blog series on asking a seller to pay for closing costs on a house purchase. You can read Part 1 here. In these posts, we’re going to cover seller subsidies you can use when putting together an offer for homes in Northern Virginia.
Seller Subsidy Strategies – Asking a Seller to Pay Closing Costs on a House Purchase
Strategically, it’s best to structure your offer with the goal of figuring out the net sales price you want to offer. So if a property is listed at $400,000 and you want to offer a net of $388,000, but you definitely need a subsidy toward your closing costs on a house purchase, you would offer the list price of $400,000 and ask for a subsidy of $12,000.
Buying a Home - Seller Subsidy Strategies
Despite the fact that a seller subsidy toward a buyer’s closing costs on a house purchase is the same thing as the seller receiving a lower sales price, psychologically, a seller sometimes views a higher sales price with a subsidy more favorably. Logically, there’s no difference between the two, but it probably has to do with the fact that the seller feels like even though they’re giving the buyer a subsidy, they’re still getting a sales price that is closer to the amount they wanted.
With this in mind, if you’re planning on making a lower offer, and you realize that you’d like some money toward closing costs on a house purchase, it can be effective to offer the advertised list price and ask for a subsidy as well. The seller feels like they are getting the price they wanted, and you get to save on the amount of cash you owe at settlement.
Have a Lender Summarize Your Closing Costs for You
You can read more about closing costs on a house purchase in this blog post. Ultimately, your lender is the best person to speak with to get an in-depth look at your closing costs for a home purchase. The reason is that a good chunk of your closing costs will be lender fees.
If you’re looking for recommendations for Northern Virginia lenders, call me at 703-462-0700 or email me at DarrenRobertsonHomes@gmail.com. I know a lender who will waive his lender fees when you tell him you heard about him on my website!