4 Ways To Make Your Offer Stand Out

Here are four ways you can stop getting outbid on your dream home.

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Are you getting outbid on all your offers? You may be making some common mistakes, so today I want to go over four tips to help you win the next offer you make:

1. Stay under your pre-approved value. For example, if you’re pre-approved for $200,000, don’t look at properties listed at $220,000. Don’t even look at homes listed at $200,000. Instead, look at properties listed at $180,000. In a hot market like this, your offer needs to stand out from the pack. If you are immediately underbidding, you’re setting yourself up to fail. This is why you should leave some room to increase your price during negotiations.

2. Be flexible with your terms. If your seller has needs, meeting them could make your offer stand out. In this market, it’s common for sellers to want a longer close. In this example, offering a leaseback agreement is one way you can have your offer accepted.

3. Don’t ask for seller concessions. It’s unfortunate for buyers, but in a seller’s market like this, concessions are a big risk. If you require concessions from your seller, there are probably five other offers not asking for anything. If the home needs fixes, make sure it fits into your budget before you make an offer since you probably won’t get anything out of your seller.

4. Use escalation clauses. In our previous example, if you are approved for $200,000, and you make an offer on a $180,000 home, you can add an escalation clause to your offer. This means that if someone else offers more than $180,000, you will automatically match them up to a certain amount of money. This way, you can be confident that your offer won’t be beaten out by other buyers.

If you follow these tips, you will be more likely to win an offer on the home of your dreams. If you have any questions, please call or email me. I am always willing to help!