Given the current Boston real estate market conditions, I have run in to many multiple offer transactions with Buyers who I have been representing. The Boston market has limited inventory on the market for sale, so when new properties come on market that are priced well, buyers tend to gravitate towards them in a hurry…leading to multiple offers in many cases. If you’re in the market for a condo in Boston right now you may have even come across this situation yourself.
When it comes to multiple real estate offers (and so called “best and final” situations), one might think the seller will always just go with the highest price bidder – correct?
Wrong. This is not always the case.
There are many other factors/terms of a real estate offer to purchase that may be appealing to a prospective seller besides just the purchase price. So you may ask like what? Here are just a few (I don’t want to level the playing field too much here, you can learn about more at our Boston Home Buying Class) of the strategies that I have used successfully with my buyer client’s offers.
How To Make Your Real Estate Offer Stand Out in a Multiple Bid Situation
As a Buyer’s Agent I always try to make my Buyer look the most attractive to the seller. Umm hold on – let me clarify that last statement – I always try to make my Buyer’s OFFER look the most attractive to the seller. My Buyers are all attractive already of course – I mean, come on we’re in Boston right! 🙂
1.Purchase Timeline
So there are terms to an offer like the closing date. If a potential buyer has flexibility on closing this could be greatly appealing to a seller. Many people think that a “quick close” is always what sellers want. Yes some do, but not always. Most sellers are also looking to buy a new home and appreciate some flexibility on looking and finding that new home. The key is to ask the right questions to understand what the seller actually prefers in terms of a closing timeline and structure your offer around that.
2. “Tight” Due Diligence Deadline
Another strategy would be to have a “tight” home inspection window. If possible for buyers to do, write in the offer to purchase that the home inspection is to be conducted within 3 days or so from day of accepted offer. Also write in the offer that the buyers have 48 hours from time of inspection to revoke the agreement because of inspection results. Sellers love this because it minimizes their days “off market” while buyers are performing their due diligence.
3. Make the Buyer “Real”
A third strategy would be to make the buyers personal. Let the sellers know they are real people who would be a great fit for the home. One way is to craft a personal letter introducing the buyers. To trump even that you could have Buyers and Sellers meet in person. I want to point out that this is NOT ALWAYS a great idea (depends on the client and situation) but can be very helpful in some cases. For most sellers, selling their home is an emotional process (no matter what they say there is usually some level of emotion involved). If they meet a super nice potential buyer – and lets not forget attractive 😉 – who is in love with their home it may hit a soft spot with them.
These are just a few ways to entice a seller to accept a lower price offer than competing bids. As a Buyer’s Agent my job is to negotiate effectively on your part and get you every little advantage I can on a client’s home purchase. If you’d like to talk about these strategies (and other interesting techniques) in more detail, comment below.
