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Bill Cott
Florida Real Estate Broker
| Seawatch Realty, Inc. | Direct Phone: (954) 494-5812 | Email:
Bill@BillCott.com
Through my years as a Florida Real Estate Broker I have taken the time to develop an organized and educated approach to the beach area Fort
Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Hillsboro Beach and Lauderdale By The Sea Real Estate markets. My direct and honest
demeanor with my clients has in itself created a logical set of results driven efforts that work time and time again. I am
passionate about what I do for a living and I know that it shows through the results I achieve for my clients.
Should you take the time to contact me, you will find my non-pressure, informative manner very approachable.
I look forward to potentially meeting with you in the near future and assisting you as you gather a variety of local
information for your potential upcoming Real Estate transaction.
In the Years that I have been selling Real Estate, the Buyers that have had the best
success have always been prepared to make well thought-out
offers when they found the right property. These
Buyers have a methodical plan that they follow so that they can present themselves and
their offers in the best light possible from the very beginning
of the negotiation process. They attempt to give the
Seller the most attractive terms and conditions so that all
there is left to negotiate is price. The strategy is to furnish
the Seller with an offer so attractive and amiable to
their position that they want to make the deal work. This will
provide the Buyer an opportunity to potentially glimpse
the Sellers absolute bottom line sales price so that the
Buyer can make their decision to purchase the unit or
continue their property search.
When experienced Buyers
make an offer they keep the following approach in mind:
I invite you to E-mail
me with any Real Estate For Sale questions you may have...
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| If you are currently in the marketplace searching for a home or
condo and would like to receive a comprehensive list of properties
within your "specific criteria" that are actively For Sale
or For Rent just send me
one of the following Search Requests.
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Home Search Request |
Condo Search Request |
Financing
If you are going to make an offer with a financing contingency then a “Pre-Approval
Letter” from a reputable financing institution strengthens your position to
most of the Sellers. A “Pre-Qualifying Letter” (as opposed to a
Pre-Approval Letter) means very little as they only use verbally provided
information is obtained and does not have any bearing on actual loan approval or
Buyer credit worthiness. To be perfectly clear, nothing beats a Cash Offer to make a Seller feel as
though they are dealing with an individual who will definitely execute the
purchase should they accept the offer. However, when that is not possible a
Pre-Approval Letter contingent only upon appraisal is the next best thing to
place you in a position of strength with the potential Seller.
Closing Date
This is usually a contract term that the Buyer can be very flexible with and yet
might be a very important aspect for the Seller. Sometimes the
Seller wants to sell immediately due to financial constraints and sometimes the
Seller needs to wait for a specific period of time so they can make
arrangements to move, make a purchase, stay within IRS guidelines or some other
important circumstance. I have seen the most success with
Buyers that place on the Contract Offer the earliest possible specific date to close yet let
it be known verbally to the Seller that this is an area with flexibility
and the Buyer would open to hear a closing date that would be more
suitable to the Seller.
Miscellaneous Due Diligence Periods, Visual Inspections or Partner Approvals
These contingencies are used by Buyers to give themselves an avenue to cancel the contract, within a specific period of time,
without any repercussion. In fact, the Buyers can actually negotiate contracts on properties without initially seeing them and then just cancel the
contract if they decide not to make the purchase after the fact. The issue is that Sellers are much savvier than they used to be, especially when the
Sellers are located in major metropolitan areas like Fort Lauderdale. The Sellers of today know that
miscellaneous contingencies in a contract is a sign of a Buyer that might be negotiating, outside of good faith, with the intent to not
actually execute the purchase but just hold the property off the market and in their control. This is not a very motivating position
for the Seller and usually does not produce the best deal for the Buyer. From the Sellers point of view it takes the
property off the market making it a less attractive pursuit to other potential Buyers in the marketplace during the contingency period since actual
availability is greatly in question. No one likes to waste their time and you should not either. Be sincere in your
dealings and present yourself to all parties involved as a serious Buyer worth any efforts required to provide you with the information you
need to make a sound purchasing decision.
Inspection Period
This is a specific amount of time that the Buyer has to inspect the property
and discover any unacceptable issues or facts that materially affect the value
of the property to the Buyer. This would include any mechanical issues
(air conditioning unit, hot water heater, roof condition, electrical system, plumbing, etc...) ,
violation of government laws, rules and regulations, other than those the
Buyer can readily observe or that are known by or have been disclosed to the
Buyer. The Inspection Period should only be as long as needed to
complete the inspections the Buyer deems necessary. The Buyer
should utilize this contingency only to allow an opportunity to
inspect and discover any potential issues the Buyer does not feel
confident about regarding the transaction. Any unnecessary lengthy inspection periods
usually signal the Seller into questioning the acting good
faith of the Buyer and could result into less price flexibility. Make the
deal look as attractive and amiable as possible while still allowing yourself enough time to
carryout necessary inspections.
Price
If the Buyer has mitigated as many of the potentially objectionable contract terms as
possible for the Seller, all that is left to negotiate going forward will
be the price. The Buyer has placed themselves in a position that the
Sellers first impression of the Buyer and offer is one of
seriousness and strength. Now the Buyer will be in the best position to
disclose the true acceptable bottom line sales price. Decisions
on Buyer purchase price should always be made based on current value and
not current asking prices. Sometimes asking prices are high when compared to
previous sales and current market conditions, other times asking prices are
already very attractive and all that is left to discover is the Sellers
TRUE bottom line for the best deal possible.
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