Are you wondering how to be the winning offer in a multiple offer situation when you are buying a house? Well stay tuned because today I am sharing my top tips.

We are in a hot seller’s market right now in north Dallas. Inventory is hitting record lows and buyer demand is high! If you are thinking about buying a home, you need to be prepared to be aggressive and stand out because there is a very good chance you will find yourself in a multiple offer situation.

So Here are 4 strategies to get the home that you want by making your offer stand out.

Before you start looking at homes you need to make sure you are pre-approved, not just pre-qualified, but pre-approved with the underwriters. This will give the seller certainty that you are less likely to fall out of escrow because of problems with your loan. When your loan is fully approved up front, you can write a more aggressive offer and shorter contingencies which strengthen your offer and give the seller confidence that you are a serious buyer.
Act Fast! When a house comes on the market that you like You need to be ready to see it quickly and make an offer right away. Oftentimes, the listing agent will put a deadline to submit offers. Stay on top of the market, keep track of the inventory and make sure your schedule is open so you can go see homes quickly. This will help prevent you from missing out on a home you like and stay ahead of the competition and sometimes, if you’re lucky, your offer will be accepted before there is time for multiple offers to come in.
Be aggressive. This is not a market where you can offer list price, hope to get a counter offer and then go into negotiations. You want to come in strong right away. The important thing to understand is that the listing price is a teaser price. Savy listing agents know that the price that they list the house for is most often not the price that the home will actually sell for. They very strategically price the home to get as many showings and offers as possible in order to bid the price up. Remember the “Market Value” of the house is not the listing price, it is the price the market is willing to pay for the property. If buyers are paying 50 - 60 thousand dollars over asking price, that is the market value of the house. And appraisers know this too, so don’t be timid when writing your offer. Be aggressive.
Last but not least, Make your offer personal. If you don’t do this, you will just a name on a piece of paper. Take some time to Write the seller a letter telling them about your family and why you love their home. This can make a big difference. On several occasions my clients have been chosen because we personalized our offer even though we didn’t have the very highest bid. This can sometimes feel a bit corny, but a very important and powerful addition to your offer that you don’t want to leave out.

So the 4 strategies to winning in a multiple offer situation are:

Get pre-approved to give the seller confidence in your buying power

Act fast to beat other buyers to the door

Be aggressive

Make your offer personal to be remembered.

There are many more strategies to winning in a bidding war, but you can leave those up to me. My goal is always to position my clients in the best way to make their dreams of home ownership a reality. If you are thinking about buying or selling a home please contact me today. OR download my FREE Ultimate Buyer’s Guide.

As always, I’m Kami Hall, making dreams reality one home at a time. Have a great day!