Most deals fall apart during the inspection period. Here's what's really driving buyers to walk away, and the seller moves that keep a contract together.
More sellers are getting the call nobody wants: the one where the buyer is walking away. It usually comes a few days after going under contract, right in the middle of the inspection period, and it can feel like it came out of nowhere. Across Southeast Florida, we're seeing it happen more often than we did a few years ago.
Buyers have more options now. Since COVID, our market has become a bit more of a buyer's market. A buyer's market doesn't automatically mean prices have dropped. It means buyers have more homes to choose from and more say in how the transaction goes. Depending on the situation, some of them are looking for any reason to get out.
The inspection period is the exit. Most of the fallout lands there, because a buyer can cancel for almost any reason during those first few days. A deal that looked solid can unravel over a report, and often the report is just the excuse a hesitant buyer was waiting for.
Buyers weigh affordability and value. When a buyer is teetering, they're really answering two questions. The first is whether they can afford the property, because if they can't, they aren't buying it. The second is whether the property is worth what it costs to own right now, with interest rates around 7% and insurance and taxes where they are. If either answer comes back shaky, the inspection gives them a clean way out.
"Say no to everything, and you hand the buyer a reason to walk."
Handle the small stuff before listing. The issues you already know about are the same ones that show up in the inspection report, so get them handled while you still control the timeline. When something does come up anyway, be open to taking care of the minor items or offering a credit back so the buyer can handle it themselves. A small gesture at that point is often what gets things done.
Saying no to everything backfires. Sometimes it looks like the buyer is throwing a lot at us, and part of our job is translating that for our sellers. Some of it is genuinely nitpicky. We get into trouble in how we respond to those requests. If the answer to every ask is no, the buyer starts looking for the door.
A good agent talks logic. You hire an agent for exactly this reason. We're the middleman, the liaison between everybody in the transaction, and a big part of that is taking all the emotion out of it. There are always going to be curveballs, and it's our job to work through them, negotiate through them, and wear the white glove so the problems don't land on you.
Don't take it personally. Staying open-minded through the inspection period is what keeps a contract alive. Plenty of things can get thrown at a transaction. The deals that survive are usually the ones where everybody keeps emotions down and stays logical about getting to the closing table.
If you're thinking about selling and you want to know exactly what to handle before you list, we'd love to come by for a free consultation. We'll sit down with you, walk the property, and put together a plan to get your home sold. Call or text us at 561-220-2052, email info@tricoliteam.com, or visit www.tricoliteam.com. We're happy to walk you through the whole process.