Multiple Offers on a House - 8 Tips How to Win

In today’s crazy real estate market, winning a multiple offer may feel impossible, but it’s not. It is a fine art though and it takes a lot of planning and preparation to win. Today I’m going to share with you our team’s 8 Top Tips that have helped our buyers win in the multiple offer scenario.  Get on your armour and let’s talk about how to go to battle and win in multiples!

Tip #1 - Make your offer as clean and uncluttered as possible.  This means you want to structure your offer with as few conditions as possible.  Conditions are the: subject to’s” that are referred to in offers. Examples are: Subject to financing, subject to home inspection, etc.  Right now in this crazy market, quite a few offers are being presented with no conditions at all!  Although you may not be able to offer a no condition offer (or as we call them, an unconditional offer), you still can make your offer as clean as possible. For example, f it’s a brand new house, do you need to put in subject to a professional home inspection? Maybe, however maybe not. If you have already looked at the property disclosure statement and it has nothing alarming on it - why have that as a subject? Take it off, it serves no purpose in being there.  Those are a few of the basics, plus we have made a whole video on what conditions needs to go into a multiple offers and what conditions don’t right here:  https://youtu.be/76C8sHb5BTo

Tip #2 - Sell Your House First.  It used to be, back in the olden days - like a year ago - you could write an offer “subject to” the sale of your house.  Now it’s no dice.  Very, very few Sellers are going to look at an offer subject to the sale of someone’s house.  Why? Because they don’t have to.  Tomorrow or later today or in 15 minutes, someone else is coming around and giving an all-cash offer.  Don’t bother trying that tactic.  Instead, plan to have a solid offer on your house first and then go into battle for your next home. If you don’t have a house to sell, make darn good and sure your financing is ironclad with a solid preapproval in place, not a quasi-preapproval subject to 14 things under the sun. 

Tip #3:  Include the Kitchen Sink but leave everything else out of it.  If you are going into a multiple offer battle, anything not in the listing that is specifically included - don’t ask for it.  In a normal market or in a non-multiple offer scenario, it doesn’t hurt to ask for some furniture or the garden gnomes, however in a multiple offer - don’t do it!  It could be that one item that you asked for that sways the homeowner toward another offer that didn’t ask for the pool table or the bar stools.

Tip #4:  Give the Seller their desired dates.  Moving dates can be a big deal to some sellers.  If you have some flexibility in your move, and you can at all accommodate dates the seller’s want - then do so.  Again, back in the olden days, some Sellers would be ok to move twice.  In a multiple situation, they aren’t the ones moving twice – you are.  If that is an acceptable situation for you, accommodating the seller’s dates could be enough to win you the offer over anyone else who’s offer is also in play. 

Tip #5:  Big Deposit.  A big deposit is a must when in competition.  A huge deposit screams “I’m a serious buyer!”  To the Seller.  Even though the seller doesn’t get the money, not right away, it is a great way to show the Seller that you want that house.  Ensure you make the deposit payable upon acceptance or within 2 business days of acceptance, not when you remove your conditions.  Your Realtor arriving at an offer presentation with a cheque in hand is a powerful motivator.  Sometimes offers are so close that the only way to tell them apart is by the size of the deposit.  This is one of the cases where size definitely matters!

Tip #6:  Give Your Best Price First. This is another place where size matters - the size of your offer price!  When you are in a multiple offer situation,  the number one factor is price. So make it count, as you likely will only get one chance.  Some buyers, after the offer is presented and another offer is accepted, say “well, why didn’t they counter my offer?”  Because the Seller looked at all the offers, and that hard truth is – your offer simply wasn’t good enough.  You usually only get one chance, and in a multiple offer, often the list price becomes the minimum price not the maximum price.  As a Buyer, you want to ask yourself, “how much would I pay for this house and still feel good about it?”  And what is the number that if it sold for that, I would say “I would never have paid that!”  It’s the number that you can sleep at night paying, and not lose sleep if you didn’t get the opportunity to offer.  Always remember - you’re probably only going to have one chance at this, what is it worth to you?

Tip #7:  Video or Write Your Story.  In some cases, all other things being equal, a Seller will choose your offer because they like you.  So make them like you!  Send your Realtor a story about why you want this particular house, and what it means to you and your family to be able to have the opportunity to purchase it.  And if you want to pull out even more of the stops - make a video of you telling your story.  Grab your kids and your dog, or maybe borrow kids and a dog...   Add in what is it that sold you on this house and why is it perfect for you rather than the other 4 offers who didn’t even take the time to make you a video!

Tip #8:  Choose the Right Realtor. Now is the time to choose experience. Choose a realtor or a real estate team who has been around the block a time or two, and who knows the in’s and outs of competing in multiple offers. Maybe even someone who makes YouTube videos about it!   But seriously - you need someone who can win the battle, so choose someone who has the battle scars, the track record and the expertise to win.  There really is no substitute for a proven system.

These are 8 solid tips that you can use when going to battle in the multiple offer ring.  And there are more tips and tactics that a great real estate group has up their sleeve, so be sure to call a great group of Realtors and “Just Add Salt!”