Ways To Settle Disputes Between Buyer and Seller

Whether you’re buying or selling a home, there are various reasons why you might encounter a dispute between yourself and the other party or parties involved in the sale of the home, but it’s important to ensure that you’re both able to take care of any problems that may arise in a manner that works well for both of you. This is one of the many reasons why it can be especially beneficial to work with a seasoned realtor who can help you if something should go awry with your attempt to either buy or sell a home.

Mediation:  This is one of the most common methods for settling disputes between the seller and the buyer of a property. This can usually be achieved by working with your agent. In the mediation process, a third party who is not the realtor associated with either the buyer or the seller can be called in to help both parties work together to find a happy medium that works for everyone involved.

The mediator is not called in to make a final decision or judgment based on the situation, but instead to encourage polite and effective communication between both parties to help reach a good agreement together. The mediator can also help explain any problems that may arise and may help steer the conversation toward a workable end result. However, mediator may not help sway the decision one way or the other.

Negotiation:  This method of dealing with disputes between buyers and sellers is also very common, and sometimes it occurs without anyone actually realizing it’s going on. With this method, a third party is not involved. Both parties will try to negotiate with each other to help reach an agreeable end result that they will both be happy with.

There are many ways negotiation may take place. Of course, when a buyer and a seller are trying to work together to find a selling price and contract that works for both of them, this is one type of negotiation. However, the realtor may also be involved in negotiations. For example, if some type of small damage to the home is bothering the buyer and preventing them from signing the contract, the realtor may step in and offer to fix that damage out of pocket to encourage the final sale.

Arbitration:  With arbitration, both the buyer and the seller agree to send any problems to a neutral third party who will make the final decision for them. This is very similar to mediation, but instead of helping encourage the buyer and the seller to make the decision together, the arbitrator will choose based on the situation.