What Can You Negotiate?

In a home purchase, most things are up for negotiation. Sources like Kiplinger and LendingTree track the common categories — here’s each one, with the Wellington and Florida context layered in.

Sale Price

The most obvious lever. Buyers today are cautious about overpaying when affordability is tight, and sellers who aren’t realistic about asking price end up making the adjustment later — usually after losing weeks on market. In Wellington, comparable-sale data varies sharply by community; pricing against the right comp set matters more than pricing against the village-wide average.

Home Repairs and Credits

After the inspection, buyers can raise repair issues — but in Florida this works differently than the national articles suggest. Most Palm Beach County residential deals are written on the AS-IS contract, where the seller isn’t obligated to make repairs; the buyer’s leverage is the right to walk during the inspection period. In practice, repair findings get negotiated as price reductions or seller credits rather than repair commitments. Roof age, electrical, and plumbing findings carry extra weight here because they drive the 4-point inspection and wind mitigation results your insurer relies on.

Fixtures

Buyers can ask for appliances or furnishings to convey. The washer/dryer ask is the classic example — it cuts the buyer’s move-in cost, and sellers often prefer buying new for their next home anyway. In Wellington’s seasonal and equestrian segments, furnished or partially furnished sales are common enough that the inclusion list deserves real attention in the contract, not a verbal understanding.

Closing Costs

Closing costs typically run 2–5% of the purchase price. Buyers can ask the seller to cover a portion to reduce cash needed at the table. A Florida-specific angle worth knowing: a seller credit applied to a temporary or permanent rate buydown often does more for the buyer’s monthly payment than the same dollars taken off the price — and costs the seller nothing extra.

Home Warranties

Buyers may ask the seller to fund a home warranty covering post-closing maintenance surprises. It’s a low-cost concession for sellers and meaningful peace of mind for buyers — particularly on homes with older A/C systems, which in South Florida run nearly year-round.

Closing Date

Timelines are negotiable in both directions. Buyers may need speed or extra runway; sellers may need time to secure their next home. In Wellington, the calendar has a local wrinkle: sellers timing a move around equestrian season, or buyers coordinating with a seasonal lease ending in spring, can often trade timeline flexibility for better terms elsewhere in the deal.

Why Your Agent Drives the Outcome

Whichever side you’re on, your agent manages these negotiations and advocates for your interests. Bankrate’s guidance makes the same point: skilled negotiation is a core part of what an agent brings, and without one you’re negotiating contract terms on your own.

There’s also an intelligence layer. An experienced agent learns what the other side actually needs — through conversations with the other agent — and that insight is often what unlocks the deal. A seller who needs a 60-day post-closing timeline will trade on price. A buyer stretched on cash will trade price for closing cost help. Knowing which lever matters to the other party is the negotiation.

Bottom Line

When buyers hold a bit more power, knowing the levers makes you confident on either side of the table. Buyers: the ask list is longer than price. Sellers: knowing what’s coming lets you decide in advance what you’ll give — and what you’ll trade it for. The deals that close well are the ones where both sides traded the things they cared least about for the things they cared most about.