When a Seller Will Not Move on Price

A seller can ask for a price that does not work for you and still have no reason to accept less. I made that point while answering real-estate questions about sellers who seemed unwilling to move. In one case, a neighbor had listed the same property for sale by owner almost every year for seven years without selling. The buyer thought the asking price was unreasonable. I wondered whether the owner simply wanted to sell only at the right price, or might become more flexible if circumstances changed.

That distinction matters. A property being available does not mean its owner needs to sell it now. If the seller is comfortable holding it, repeating the same disagreement may not bring the two sides closer.

Decide what the property is worth to you

I also answered a landowner who said they were receiving several offers at about four times the market price but did not want to sell. I did not tell them to accept or refuse. I asked them to think about what they could buy instead, what comparable land would cost, what they would do with the money, and what they would give up by selling.

Those questions put the offer beside the alternatives. If the owner had a reason to keep the land, holding it could make sense to them. If they sold, the proceeds would have another use, and the land might be difficult to replace. The right choice depended on what the owner wanted to do with the property and the cash, not just on the number in the offer.

The figure in that question was the viewer’s description of the offers. I was not verifying the land’s market value or appraising the property. My point was to compare the sale with the owner’s next-best use of both the land and the money.

Look for another way to close the gap

A separate viewer asked how to get sellers of hospitality and commercial properties to account for impaired income during the pandemic. The viewer believed the asking prices still reflected pre-pandemic conditions. I said that, depending on the circumstances, other concessions might reach a similar overall value with less resistance than asking the seller to lower the price.

I did not know all the details of those properties, and the question came from a particular moment in 2021. The useful distinction in my answer was between the headline price and the whole agreement. If both sides can see value in different terms, a deal may be possible even when they disagree about one number. If they cannot, the buyer still has to decide whether to keep pursuing it.

Make the offer and be prepared to leave

If the seller will not move and the terms do not work for you, I said to let them be and look for another deal. A buyer can put a clear offer in front of the seller, including what they can pay and when they can close. The seller can accept or decline. If they are not interested, the buyer does not have to keep arguing.

If the property appears to be your best available deal, then there is another decision: pursue it on the seller’s terms, or wait for something else. That depends on your own goals and alternatives. My answer was not that one side must win the negotiation. Both sides can decide the deal is wrong for them.

For a different negotiation example, I have written about how I prepared to negotiate prices on construction materials. The real-estate questions here turn on whether the price and terms fit the deal each person is willing to make.