Reading a seller's situation before you talk price

Four things you need before a number

Timeline: when do they need this resolved, and what happens on that date. Condition: what is broken, how long has it been broken, who has been living there. Authority: is everyone on title in agreement. Alternatives: have they listed it, has anyone else made an offer.

Until you have all four you cannot underwrite, and any number you give is a guess you will have to retract.

Ask about consequences, not motivation

"Why are you selling" gets a rehearsed answer. "What happens if it is still yours in ninety days" gets the truth. Consequence questions surface the deadline, the cost of waiting and the person actually driving the decision.

Write down their words. When you later present a number, you will repeat their own reasons back, not your pitch.

Condition without insulting the house

Ask when the roof, furnace, water heater and electrical panel were last touched. Ask what a family member would fix first. Ask if anything has ever leaked. That produces a repair picture without telling a seller their home is a dump — which ends calls.

Silence and unknowns

If you do not know something, say you do not know and say when you will. Do not fill gaps with confident invention. Sellers forgive slow; they do not forgive being wrong twice.