Negotiating Offers When Selling Your Phoenix Home
The highest offer is not always the best offer for a North Valley seller. Two offers at the same number can be worlds apart once you read financing, contingencies, and credits.
The highest number is not always the best offer.
A strong negotiation is about the whole offer, not just the price. Two offers at the same number can be worlds apart once you read the terms, and a lower offer with clean terms can net you more and close more reliably than a higher one loaded with conditions. Here is what to weigh.
Read past the price
Financing type and strength: cash, conventional, FHA, or VA, and how solid the buyer's approval is.
Contingencies: inspection, appraisal, loan, and sale-of-their-home, and how long each runs.
Closing date and possession: does it fit your timeline, and do they want you to move fast or stay?
Concessions and credits the buyer is asking you to pay, which come straight out of your net.
Earnest money: how much the buyer is putting up, a signal of how serious they are.
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Negotiating from strength
Know your bottom-line net before you respond, so you negotiate on facts, not nerves. (See the Net Proceeds guide at /learn/selling-phoenix-home-net-proceeds.)
Counter strategically. Price, terms, dates, and credits are all levers, not just price.
When there are multiple offers, there are ways to use that position well without losing a strong buyer.
Keep emotion out of it. The calm, prepared seller almost always nets more.
This is the heart of what I do
Negotiation is where representation pays for itself many times over. I read the full offer, advise you on every lever, and negotiate hard for your bottom line while keeping the deal together. Before you respond to any offer, let's talk it through.
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Written by
Jon Hegreness
REALTOR / Associate Broker, Howe Realty. AZ License BR540940000. 24 years in Phoenix Valley residential real estate.
I am a full-time Valley associate broker, not a call center. If anything here raised a question about your own move, ask me and you get a straight answer from the person who wrote this, every time.
Common questions
- Should I always take the highest offer?
- No. Net after concessions, financing strength, and contingency risk often make a lower clean offer the better deal.
- What is earnest money and why does it matter?
- Earnest money is the buyer's deposit held in escrow. Larger earnest money often signals a more committed buyer, subject to contract terms.
- Can I counter more than just price?
- Yes. Closing date, possession, credits, repairs, and contingency timelines are all negotiable levers.
- How do multiple offers work in Arizona?
- Sellers can counter one offer, ask for highest and best, or accept outright. Strategy depends on buyer strength and your net goal. Walk through options before you respond.
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