Lately, we’ve had several buyers ask us, “What can we do to make our offer look stronger?” In today’s highly competitive market where we’re seeing more and more multiple-offer situations, this question is only natural. If you find yourself competing against other buyers for the same property, remember these three tips for making your offer stand out to sellers:
1. Write your contingencies to be as brief as you feel comfortable, or eliminate them altogether. For example, shortening your inspection contingency from 15 to seven days shows the seller you’ll be quick to order your inspections, meaning they’re only at risk of having their property off the market for seven days instead of 15. Alternatively, if you’re receiving a loan, you may reduce or remove your appraisal contingency since you can order your appraisal during your inspection contingency period. For example, if you have 15 days to do your inspections and you remove your appraisal contingency altogether, just arrange for your appraisal to be done in that 15-day window. Since the inspection contingency is considered a ‘free look,’ you don’t need to give a reason for backing out.
2. Increase your escrow deposit amount. We advise our buyers to offer a minimum deposit of 2% of the home’s purchase price. This deposit is made in good faith to show the sellers you are serious about purchasing their property. A large part of our job as real estate professionals is protecting a buyer’s deposit, so the more money you feel comfortable with depositing, the stronger your offer appears.
“Never underestimate the power of a determined buyer and an experienced agent.”
3. Go above asking price and appraised value. In our current market, this approach is becoming more common. If you happen to find that perfect 10-out-of-10 dream home, there will most likely be multiple offers on it, and you may have to pay above asking price. We recently competed against 13 other offers on a home in Winter Garden! The home was a flawless fit for our buyers, and they wanted us to do whatever it took to get their offer accepted.
The home was priced at $400,000, so we decided to offer $405,000, and pay $1,000 above appraised value up to $405,000. In other words, if the property only appraised for $400,000, our buyers communicated to the seller that they would still be willing to pay an additional $1,000 out of pocket. Since no other buyers offered to pay above appraised value, our buyers got the house!
No matter how fierce the competition is out there, you can never underestimate the power of a determined buyer and an experienced agent.
If you have questions about this topic, or if you hear of anyone looking to make a move that we can help, feel free to give us a call or send a text to 407-519-0627. As always, make sure you like, share, comment, and subscribe to our channel—hit that notification button so you never miss a video!
