How to Sell Your House in Singapore: Negotiations and Closing
In the last article, we’ve discussed on matter related to Listing and Marketing your property in Singapore. Let’s dive into the last chapter of your journey to sell your house, which is negotiations and closing sales.
Working with your agent, you’ve completed the open house and the offers are rolling in. Your agent will guide you on how to evaluate offers, but overall, here’s what you’re looking at:
Price
Definitely. What else?
Deposit
Deposit is a sum of money that might accompany the offer. Sometimes this deposit is paid in two parts: a flat fee when the offer is submitted, and the rest (usually a percentage of the purchase price) when the contract is signed. The idea behind this is that if the buyer backs out, they forfeit this sum, meaning there’s less risk involved for you. If they don’t back out, the money is typically applied towards closing costs.
Down payment
Down payment is how much the buyer plans to pay in cash towards the purchase price. The higher the down payment, the greater the chances of a successful loan. Don’t forget to look at when the buyer will be making the down payment (for example, 10% down within the first two weeks of signing the agreement, and the other 10% at closing).
Financing contingency
Financing contingency is how the buyer plans to put together the rest of the money, unless you’ve received an all-cash offer. Ideally, the buyer will be pre-approved. You’ll also want to see what the financing schedule is — how soon before the closing date the buyer will be able to confirm their financing. If you can, negotiate for the soonest confirmation date you can to prevent last-minute snags.
If your real Singapore estate agent knows their stuff, you should be pleasantly surprised with the offers. Talking about estate agent, why not talk to us to see if we can be of any help?
Nobody’s perfect — so even if they did everything right and are knowledgeable about the market, you might both find that the offers are lower than you wanted. When it comes to this scenario, trust your real estate agent and don’t forget to take into account other factors (taking a lower offer might be necessary if you want to sell the house ASAP, for example).
By the way, you should consult a lawyer either during or after the home sale is closed. After you evaluate your offers, you find one that’s amenable to you, and you and the buyer come to an agreement.