Wanting to know how to deal with a bidding war on a house is far more common today than it used to be. When selling a home in a hot market, it is normal to get multiple offers. Sometimes, if the market is hot enough, the offers can start getting quite competitive, with bids going higher and higher.
There are also times when sellers will price their home lower than it is worth just to start a bidding war.
Whatever your particular circumstances, if you start getting multiple offers on your home, you are going to have to choose the one that works best for you – and that does not always mean the offer for the most money.
Two of the questions real estate agents are often asked is “How do I handle multiple offers on my home?” or How do I deal with a bidding war on my home?”
Before we get into how to handle multiple offers, let’s first discuss how you can increase the odds of actually getting them. One of the best ways of getting multiple offers in a strong seller’s market is to defer your showings for a short period. Deferring showings works like this – you list your home on a Monday or a Tuesday into the multiple listing service, but you don’t let anyone into your home until the weekend.
What you are doing is creating demand for your home. You are getting the word out your home is for sale and putting people on notice. Buyers who are looking for your type of property will be lining up at the door come the weekend.
Instead of taking an offer from the first person that sees the house, you’re dramatically increasing the odds there will be multiple offers. Make sure you follow the reference on deferred showings to read about this important sales tactic.
Keep reading to see the best ways to deal with multiple offers and bidding wars on your home. Knowing how to handle multiple offers will not only go a long way to having a successful transaction but maximize your profit.
Handling Multiple Offers
Keep in mind there are four scenarios when dealing with multiple offers as follows:
- Go back to all offers with a “best and final”. You will be asking each party to come back with their highest bid along with their best terms.
- Accept one of the offers on the table. Maybe one offer is just head and shoulders better than the rest.
- Negotiate with one or more of the offers but exclude some on the table. Maybe a few offers are really low or have terms that are acceptable.
- Reject all of the offers. None of the offers happens to be acceptable.
One additional nugget to be aware of…
By Bill Gassett, Maximum Exposure Real Estate
Comments are closed.