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Everyone’s talking about it. The market is on fire and if you’re a seller, THAT’S GREAT! But if you’re out there trying to find a home to purchase right now there is plenty of competition and quite frankly, it’s probably getting to be very difficult.
But through my many years of experience and dealing with multiple offer situations while representing the buyer’s side of the transaction, I’ve developed some very effective strategies to help you win the bid. Here are five tried and true ways to turn up the heat on your offer and get it noticed.
Know Your Limits Then Reach for the Sky
Now’s definitely not the time to be playing negotiating games. Sure, that might have been a strong strategy just a few years ago when there was an overabundance of homes on the market and not near as enough buyers to accommodate them. But today, it’s a completely different story. Figure out the highest price you are able and willing to comfortably pay in a multiple offer situation and don’t be afraid to offer that much.
Make It Clean, Make It Simple
As a Realtor® that also represents sellers, I often come across a stack of offers and am sitting there sorting through them with the expectation they will be presented to the seller. The last thing I want to do is confuse the seller with jumbled language, lengthy verbiage or unreadable handwriting leaving us both to wonder what an offer says. Write a simple, clean offer with as little room for confusion as possible without being vague. A simple cover letter summary page is a great way to highlight the bullet points of your offer.
Demonstrate Financial Strength
No seller wants to dapple with offers that are not 100% solid in terms of financial viability. When looking at several offers, a small earnest money deposit or limited down payment can be viewed as lack of interest of worse, appear to be an inability to afford the property. If you are offering to make a down payment, show proof of funds through a letter from your bank or investment firm and make sure to include a preapproval letter from your lender.
With Down Payment and Deposit, Less Is Not More
When sellers are reviewing offers they are looking for what they perceive as strong interest. It goes without saying that more money is a demonstration of high interest level but how you offer to pay is another consideration. Cash offers are always very attractive since they entail fewer contingencies and procedural hurdles to jump through. But even a larger down payment is more attractive than very little money down. If you can afford it, put down at least 10 percent on the home and submit an earnest deposit amount of at least 1% of the purchase price.
Minimize Contingencies
Many offers contain contingencies, upon which the purchase agreements depend before being executed. For instance, a buyer might make an offer on a home contingent of the sale of their existing home. There are also inspection and mortgage contingencies. You may not be able to eliminate all of them but whenever possible try to be flexible. Shorten the length of time for buyer investigations by offering to schedule your inspections soon after your offer is accepted.
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These are just a few of the strategies we employ when serving our buyer clients in what is a very strong seller-controlled marketplace. If you’d like to hear some more of the tricks we have to get you the home of your dreams, contact me today at 973-214-0691.
