A Home Buyer’s Guide to Motivated Sellers

Home shoppers outnumber home sellers in many places. If you're a home buyer, you need every competitive advantage you can get. That's why it pays to know how to find motivated sellers and persuade them to choose you.

The definition of "motivated seller" has changed since the depths of the economic crisis about a decade ago, when many motivated sellers were trying to avoid foreclosure. There are fewer of these desperate sellers now, but you can still find motivated sellers if you know where to look.

What is a motivated seller?

"A motivated seller is someone that needs to move out quickly," explains Sonia Figueroa, a real estate agent with Century 21 Affiliated in Chicago, who lists common motivators:

• The home has been on the market for three months or more, and the sellers feel impatient

• The sellers are relocating for a job

• The sellers are divorcing. "They're super motivated because they want to get rid of each other, get rid of their assets and be done," Figueroa says.

• The owner died and the sellers are the heirs. "They just want to price it to sell it, to divvy up the money," Figueroa says.