You Are Sitting at Two Negotiating Tables at Once. Here Is How to Play Each One

Here you sell your home. The first thing people think about is the price, and the price matters. But when you are also buying, two more things matter almost as much:

• The closing date. That is the day the papers are signed and the keys change hands. If the date your buyer wants does not line up with the date of your purchase, you have a calendar problem even if the price is good.
• Time to move out. Sometimes it makes sense to ask for a few days to stay in the house after closing. That gets agreed in the contract and put on paper.

The offer with the highest price is not always the best one for you. One with a little less and a date that works for you can be. It depends on your plan.

Here you are the buyer, and you want the house. What you ask of the seller matters too:

• A closing date that lines up with your sale. Not identical, but one that does not leave you hanging.
• Terms that do not put your sale at risk. If your offer depends on selling your home, the seller sees that as a risk, and sometimes prefers a different offer. When the plan is already in motion, that conversation changes.

Everything you ask for has to be thought through both ways. Does it work for the seller of that house? And what does it do to the sale of mine?

It happens a lot. One agent handles the sale and another handles the purchase. Each does their part well, but neither sees both at once.

The one selling closes with the buyer who offered the most, not knowing the date clashes with your purchase. The one buying negotiates a date that suits the new house, not knowing where your sale stands.

Nobody made a mistake. Nobody looked at both clocks together. And the clocks affect each other: if one moves, the other does too.

That is why I handle both. When you make an offer on the next home, I already know where yours stands. When you accept an offer on yours, I already know what date your purchase needs.

There are no secret tactics and no promises of winning. There are three simple ideas:

1. I am on your side. Yours, not the deal's and not whoever offers the most.
2. You always know what comes next. Before each step, I tell you what is coming and why.
3. I fight for your number. With courtesy and with firmness. Courtesy, because a good negotiation ends with both sides willing to close. Firmness, because your number is yours.

I cannot promise that each table goes the way you want. No serious person can. What I can do is make sure you walk into both knowing what to ask for and what each thing costs you.

If you are selling and buying in the same year, before you accept any offer, ask yourself: what does this do to the other table?

If you can answer that with dates, you are on track. If not, the plan is still missing.

What would you ask for on each side?

Send me on WhatsApp when you would like to be in the new home and where you are with the sale, and I will tell you what I would ask for at each table. No commitment, nothing to sign.

I am Veronica Yeary, a REALTOR in Dallas-Fort Worth. I sell your home and find the next one with a single plan, and the whole transaction is with me, start to finish.

469-441-8890 · call, text or WhatsApp · veronica@veronicayeary.com