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When the real estate market is hot, an attractive house is a coveted commodity. If buyers in an area are all eager to get into their next dream home, sellers can typically expect to receive multiple offers soon after their listing is advertised.
When buying a home in a competitive market like the one we’re in, how can you win the bid on a property with multiple offers? If you have found a dream house, make sure your offer wins the bidding war with these seven tips.
1. Play to win, not to lose
A big reason behind the insane soaring of housing prices is that sellers are playing the numbers game. The lower their listing prices are, the more offers they attract — with likely higher asking prices. At the end of the day, bidding wars usually raise the deal prices much more than their true market value.
As an agent, you should know a good enough ballpark based on market statistics. If you see that the over-asking price is exceeding your client’s budget, it’s best to pull your offer. Otherwise, you’ll be just increasing the competitive drive. Let the market balance itself out.
2. Do your due diligence
Get complete information on the sellers. Consider asking these questions:
- Who are they?
- Where do they work?
- Why are they selling?
- Where are they going?
The best way to know more about the sellers is to talk to the neighbors. If you get in touch with at least five surrounding houses, you’ll find out a scoop about the house that’s going to help you in a multiple-offer situation.
3. Compliment the agent
Call the agents on the other end, and have that communication. Tell them you want to bring an offer to the table and that you have a few questions. But first, take five minutes to learn something about them. It might be even helpful to look at their Facebook profile before calling them.
Remember to compliment the agents first when you call them, and then go into the seller info. The key is to build rapport, emotions and relationships.
4. See what else you can include in the offer
If there’s some furniture and belongings in the house, you may put in the offer that you’ll take care of them on behalf of the seller. This could make your offer stand out. Likewise, you can also offer to clean it all up for them.
If the sellers want to keep any memorabilia, you may add one or two walkthroughs for them to say goodbye to the house. Alternatively, if they live in another city, you may also offer to pay for a mover or have it put in storage for them.
5. Give the deposit check or approval letter along with your offer
Sending a nonrefundable deposit check along with your offer will make your offer stronger. Alternatively, you may include an approval letter with your offer. The key is to show your client’s financial freedom. Plus, it will show the seller (and their agent) how much you want the house.
6. Text them 15 minutes before the offer
When talking to seller’s agents, let them know that you’ll text them before the offer as a reminder.
For instance, if the offer presentation is at 5 p.m., text them at 4:45 p.m., reminding them of how your clients are totally in love with the place, and ask them if you can improve your chances of getting a call.
7. Send them a letter
Sending sellers a love letter from your buyers can be a good way to show them how much your clients love the house and what exactly they love about it. That said, make sure you are careful about the type of information you include within the letter.
As this Inman article mentions, love letters can be “fraught with fair housing violations,” especially when they can be used to determine age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. So, make sure you aren’t violating any fair housing laws.
To sum up these points, remember that building a relationship with the agent can make a difference between your offer and the other 10 or so offers. We think it’s all about the price, but it’s not. It’s about the emotional versus logical connection you have, which starts with the agent on the other end.
Mary-Anne Gillespie is the CEO and owner of Red Apple Coaching and Consulting in Canada. Connect with her on Facebook or Instagram.
