5 Tips to win when there are multiple offers on a house

 Do you know someone who tried to write an offer on a home, they were super excited about it, but then they didn't get the home? They didn't win in a multiple offer situation…. I'm guessing the answer is, yes, and you don't want to be in that same situation.  Below we’re talking about my five tips on how to write a strong offer and an extreme seller’s market.

I’m going to break this down for you into five tips. We’re going to address myths. I'm going to address strategies. I’m going to address how to stand out as well.

Tip #1) The most common myth that I hear is buyers who think that going to the agent who representing the seller is a way for them to get the best deal on the house. Have you ever paid as much money for anything in your life, as you have this home that you're about to buy? If the answer is no, then you probably want somebody who has a “fiduciary responsibility” to you, in order to make sure that they give you ALL the information and arm you with all the tools so that you can provide your best offer without paying more or waiting longer or sooner than you actually wanted to.  It's really important, um, for you to understand that when you have an agent who's representing just you and not the seller, that agent has a fiduciary responsibility to educate you, so that you can make the best decision for yourself and your family, or possibly your investment. National association of realtors, states that if you are representing BOTH a buyer and a seller, it is mandatory that you share the exact same data with each party. So if you use the same agent representing the seller, then how can you really have a trusted advocate who's just got YOUR back, someone who's fiduciary responsibility is to protect YOU in the decision that you're about to make on probably one of the most expensive things you've ever purchased in your lifetime.

Tip #2) The biggest mistake that I see is when somebody decides to make an offer for a home based upon a percentage of what another home sold for with respect to asking price.  In other words, this last home sold for 105% of asking price or 95% of asking price. Therefore, “I'm going to make my offer 105% of what the seller's asking or 95% of what the seller's asking. I can tell you that after having helped over 800 families buy, sell, and invest in real estate, this is a huge mistake! When you are doing that, you are essentially telling the seller that whatever it is, they think that home is worth, they're correct in their analysis. Don't you want somebody to pull that information specifically for you? What if a seller overprices their property? What if a seller underprices their property?  You cannot make an offer on a home based upon a certain percentage over asking or under asking price.

Tip #3) In my 23 years of helping buyers, sellers, and investors realize their real estate goals, what I found is that a successful strategy to use for a buyer, who's looking at a home, that's going to sell a multiple offer is to find a way to stand out. And the only way to stand out is to contact the listing agent, have your agent speak real estate language to the seller's agent, to find out what it is that the seller's looking for. Maybe they've had a past experience, or maybe they've been burnt in the past, or maybe it is they trying to do something with the sale of their property that otherwise wouldn't be possible. This is something that's really important. It is not always about price! It's also about alleviating risk for the seller and giving them what it is that they're looking for, often times it could be exactly what it is that you are looking for.

Tip #4) Strategy to overcome stress; Being in a multiple offer situation can be incredibly stressful and sometimes even frustrating. Often times, it is to the point where I have buyers who want to “sit this one out”, they'll take a few months off.   A tactic that I recommend in this situation is to sit down with your agent before you even start looking at homes, go through the contract, understand the language, understand where your strengths and where your weaknesses are going to be. When you go forward. Once you find that home that you love you and your partner or your family, or even maybe your parents, anybody who's giving you input, you should be able to be thinking about where to place the furniture, do not start thinking about contract language and all the contingencies at that time. At that point, you should already have that well under your belt so that you're very confident and very comfortable moving forward.

Tip #5) Dispel the fear that many buyers have that there are so many offers, they shouldn't even try, or maybe they fear that the market's going to crash. Well, folks, let me tell you, if you look at the numbers, if you look at the Case Shiller stats, home values have done nothing, but go up over time.

So real estate is not a very short-term hold, but even for relatively short term holds, I've seen people make outstanding gains on their investments. So, it’s really important to understand the numbers, understand the neighborhood and where things are going in the neighborhood and where they've come from.

My goal is to have you make the very best decision for yourself and your family. The value that you place on the property that you're about to buy is not always the same value that the appraiser's going to give it. It's not the same value that you're competing buyers is going to give it. It may also not be the same value that the seller or the listing agent is going to give it. So, make sure that you understand the value of the home to yourself and your family and your lifestyle. If there's anything that I can do to help you and to help you learn how to win in a multiple offer situation in a strong seller's market, just reach out to me.