How To Win A Multiple Offer Situation in a Seller’s Market

Even though the market has slowed a bit we are still in a strong sellers’ market. We tend to see a lot of multiple offer situations or “Bidding Wars”. These can be really frustrating for buyers as they might have to bid on 4,5 or sometimes even 10 houses before their offer gets accepted!

So how do you make your offer as appealing as possible to the sellers?

• MONEY! Right now, sellers are pricing their houses under what they are expecting to sell for. They are doing this to build up a bunch of excitement about their house with the hopes of generating a bidding war. If you are in a multiple offer situation you are likely going to have to pay more than the asking price to get the house.
• Find out the offer process: Another thing that is really important is your realtor needs to find out what the specific offer process is for that house.  Is it a one shot round where you come in with your best and final offer or is it multiple round system where the sellers are going to go back to the buyers and give them an opportunity to improve their offer.  This will impact the initial price that you come in at.
• Try to remove or shorten conditional periods. The 2 most common conditions are financing an inspection.
  • For a home inspection try to do your inspection before you bring in the offer. A lot of the time we can get same day inspections.
  • For financing make sure you meet with your lender before you start looking and give them all of the documentation that they need for your final approval upfront. That way you know exactly what you can spend.
• Closing date: Have you agent contact the listing realtor and find out if there is a specific closing date that the sellers want and how important it is to them. If it is a big deal to the sellers try to accommodate it.
• BIG DEPOSIT! If you have the cash on hand then put in a big deposit. A big deposit shows that you are a serious buyer and it gives the seller confidence in your ability to get financing.
• Presentation: Lastly, when possible your agent should always present in person! This puts a face to the offer and makes the transaction more personal for the sellers. It is also very important for you to be easily assessable at offer presentation time. This way if the sellers have a question or want to make a change to your offer it can be done quickly.
• Make sure you’ve provided all of the required documents with your initial offer. If a seller receives multiple offers, one of the first things he/she often does is throw out the sloppy and incomplete offers.
• Don’t ask the seller for their personal property that are not in the listing. If they did not include it, they probably want to keep it. I have seen deals fall through over something as small as the drapes!
• Write a letter explaining why you chose the seller’s home and why you want to live there. You may even include a photo of your family if you feel comfortable doing this. Selling your home can be a very emotional decision and some may be more inclined to pick your offer if they know a bit about you.

I hope you have enjoyed these tips. If you have any questions or would like to discuss a multiple offer situation in more detail please feel free to contact a representative of the GoWylde Team.

Contact Us