What to Do When You Have Multiple Competing Offers
You might have held an open house to market your home hoping that you would get at least one solid offer. You’ve received multiple offers for your home, which puts you in a good position to negotiate and also gives you the opportunity to make strategic decisions. This post will help you to maximize your benefits.
First Steps to Take
Make a list of everything you would like to see in an offer. These elements would include:
- Price for purchase
- Buyer’s ability to obtain financing or to pay cash
- Dates that fit your timetable
- Initial deposit being offered
- Reasonable contingencies
- You may also be interested in other items that are particularly important
No matter how you make your list, ensure that it contains the offer price and terms, financial information of the buyer, and the likelihood that the offer will result in a sale.
Next, decide which components of the offer you are most concerned about. Although the purchase price is usually the highest, it’s important to balance this with other aspects of the offer. For example, someone may be able to obtain financing at a lower rate than the person offering the best purchase price. You might also find that the person who offers the lowest price has added conditions that may complicate the transaction.
Check each offer to determine where it fits in each category. Based on the information you find, rank the offers. Next, it’s time for you to respond. Here are some strategies to consider.
Strategy #1 – Accept the Best Offer
Sometimes, multiple offers may be made on a house. However, one buyer might exceed your expectations and agree to all dates without any unwanted contingencies. In this situation–especially if time is of the essence for your own home purchase–you may simply accept that offer.
This is the easiest route, and it can be appealing to some sellers. However, it is possible that you would be wasting money if you did not ask for another round of offers from interested buyers.
Strategy #2 – Contact each of the buyers
You could contact all buyers if there isn’t one best offer, or if you want to increase your ante to get better offers. Let them know you have received multiple offers for the house and would be interested to hear what the final offer is from each buyer. This will eliminate the concern that you might have left money on the table, and may result in better offers than the one you received in round 1.
There are downsides to this process, such as the fact that it takes longer and some buyers might decide to stop taking part in the consideration.
Strategy #3 – Start a Bidding Wars
This strategy involves contacting buyers individually to let them know the terms of the best deal and then asking them how they can beat that offer. This strategy is similar to the one before, but it is more aggressive. It works best when there is a lot of competition for your home or if you live in desirable locations.
This strategy may be more effective in attracting more buyers because it is more aggressive. Worst case scenario? The worst case scenario is that each buyer leaves and you have to start again.
This post was written by Josh Dotoli! Josh is the owner of Josh Dotoli Group which is a laser-focused real estate team at Compass comprised of industry experts selling Fort Lauderdale’s best neighborhoods. This dynamic group is one of the top-selling real estate teams in South Florida with over $94 million in sales in the past 12 months alone. Looking for coral ridge homes for sale in Fort Lauderdale, we are the real estate team for you!