How To Make Your Offer The Best Offer

            In today’s fast moving market it is very common for a seller to receive multiple offers when they sell their home. It is very important how you position yourself and how you write your offer if you want to have the best chance of having your offer accepted over competing offers.

It can be difficult to decide how much you should offer and what terms to ask for. Try to write your offer with price and terms that will have the potential to make your offer the dominant and prevailing offer. When deciding on the price and terms you want to offer always ask yourself how you will feel if your offer is not accepted. Remember, as your Realtor I cannot tell you what price to offer. I can show you what comparable homes are selling for, however the ultimate decision on price is always yours to make.

You can enhance your chances of getting your offer accepted over all other offers by doing the following:

1.      Be pre-approved for the loan that you will need.

Work with your lender before you write an offer to confirm the maximum amount of loan you can qualify for and have your lender provide a pre-approval letter that you can include with your offer. Your offer is always stronger when you show the sellers that you can afford their home.

2.      Submit a strong competitive offer. 

Always consider that there might be multiple offers and the seller might not choose to counter your offer if it is not the best of all offers to begin with.

3.      Always try to submit an offer that the seller can accept without writing a counter offer.

Your offer should be straightforward to avoid counter offers as much as possible. Other buyers have time to submit offers while you are negotiating a counter offer with the seller.

4.      Keep contingencies to a minimum.

The fewer the contingencies you include the stronger your offer will be.

5.      Include a short buyer profile with you offer.

A profile will tell the seller a little about you and why you want to buy their home. A good profile will make your offer more personal and help to make it stand out above any other offers. It gives the sellers a good reason to choose your offer over any others.

6.      Be available during the negotiating process.

You want to be available to make decisions and change the terms of your offer in the event of a counter offer. Remember that until both sides agree and sign the contract other buyers can make a more attractive offer than yours.

7.      Be prepared to view new property as soon as it comes on the market.

Sometimes homes sell within hours of coming on the market. In a fast moving market you may need to make decisions quickly and write an offer the same day you see the property.