When buying or selling a home, you can expect to participate in a lot of back and forth bargaining with regard to the sale price and the items that are included with the sale. One point of negotiation that you can use to your advantage, whether you are buying or selling, is to offer or ask that furniture be made part of the sales agreement. If you are a seller, this strategy may help justify a higher sale price than a buyer was originally willing to pay. If you are a buyer dealing with a seller that refuses to lower the asking price of a house, you can often negotiate to have the furniture included to get the best bargain for your money.
Step 1
Identify and take note of furniture items that you are interested in if you are a buyer, or items that you are willing to leave behind if you are a seller. Usually, when you are at the point of negotiating furniture, you have probably reached a stalemate with your buyer or seller regarding the sale price of the home. However, this may not always be the case, especially when you are a buyer. You may see an item such as a home theater system or a shelving unit that fits perfectly and would incur a high cost or be inconvenient to replace. When negotiating a home sale, nothing is off limits, and all points of negotiation that could lead to a sales agreement should be identified.
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Step 2
Give your list of negotiable furniture items to your realtor. Your realtor will generally be the person that facilitates negotiations regarding the terms of sale between the buyer and the seller. If your are a buyer, it is imperative to give your realtor a clear understanding of your wishes up front. If you are a seller, you may tell a realtor which items you would like to part with. However, sellers should avoid giving up too much too soon. If there are furniture items that you are on the fence about, especially high-priced items, avoid offering them until it appears that your buyer needs additional encouragement to settle on your terms.
Step 3
Ask your realtor to provide the opposite party with your furniture wish list or offer. The opposite party will either accept, deny or provide a counteroffer to your proposition. If a counteroffer is proposed by the opposing party, you may accept it, walk away from it or counter the counteroffer. The parties will work back and forth following this procedure until the terms and items included in the sale can be agreed upon.
Step 4
Double-check your sales contract to make sure that it accurately reflects the terms that you negotiated with the opposing party. As a buyer, if you believe that you negotiated to have furniture included with the sale price, but those terms are not in the sales contract, you will be out of luck. If you are not comfortable reviewing your sales contract on your own, hire a lawyer to review it. This will ensure that your interests are protected and that you get the furniture items that you bargained for and would like to have with your new home.
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