How to avoid a bait and switch scenario

How to avoid a bait and switch scenario

Selling your house can be a financial business decision. You probably want the best price and the most eager buyer that you can get. However, there is something called a "bait and switch" that you should know about.

What is a bait and switch? This is where a buyer starts out by waving all the contingencies and bidding over the asking price. This is the bait part. 

The first couple of days when a seller and buyer are under contract is when the buyer can have any home inspections they would like to have done. This is what we call "due diligence" here in Georgia, this is where the bait and switch usually happens. The switch is when they all of a sudden try to lower the price or ask for closing costs to be paid by the seller. 

The first step to preventing the bait-and-switch scenario is to take your time on the property disclosure. Make sure to disclose everything. If the buyer tries to lower the price because of the XYZ's, we can say no by pointing out that it is written in the property disclosure.

If you're uncomfortable with any possible problems that home inspectors might find, another tip is, hire a home inspector to ensure that those issues are listed and written in a report and disclosed to the buyers. Or in some cases, we go ahead and take care of the issue. Especially in the case of a leak or something of that nature. So if a buyer comes back and asks for a price reduction and it is for something we have already disclosed then we can say, sorry my friend, we disclosed that up front when you made the offer. 

If you want to learn more about bait and switch, reach out to us!