“Tips for making your offer look as good as possible when you are in a competing multiple offer situation which is quite common these days if you are looking for a detached house in Greater Vancouver.”
Price
“Put your best number on the offer. Dont leave anything off the table, you want to go with your best number upfront. You can’t rely on a counter offer and if you miss out on a property by $5,000 you’ll likely be kicking yourself for a couple months down the road.”
Deposit
“We always recommend 5%. That is our bare minimum recommendation. If you can put more down, put more down but at least 5%. You don’t want to have any concerns over your offer due to your deposit.”
Dates
“If you are in a flexible situation say you’re frustrated buyer who sold their apartment and your now out of house and home, leave the dates blank. Leave them up to the seller to decide. If you have subjects leave them blank. If you don’t have subjects you may want to caution yourself about that. Leave the dates blank and give the seller the full right to choose the dates or at least speak with the listing agent first before putting dates down. Don’t make dates a sticky issue for buying a long term home.”
Items on Page 2 of the contract
“Don’t be over particular. Don’t ask for too much. If you are competing and you are asking for a lot you don’t have a whole lot of leverage in negotiation. You want them to feel like you are a solid buyer who is asking for a reasonable amount of items and you put your best number on the table. If you start demanding things it will make your offer look worse.”
Subjects
“Unfortunately if you are buying a house right now the best option is none. But as a Realtor we can never recommend that. That’s just the reality of it these days. If you have a nice home on quiet street I’ve seen a number of situations that have 10+ offers and the sale always goes to the buyer without subjects. If you do deiced to go subject free make sur eyou have a good talk with your mortgage broker first. Sometimes they can give you approval on a property if you get them a mock contract prior to offer presentation. Get an inspector in there before the offer presentation. This is when you are going after a really popular or hot property. You may have to put yourself out there on some of these items and take on the risk which I have seen as well. The reality is if you have subjects on your offer make them as short and clean as possible. But a lot of the biggest sales that have gone on this year to date have been subject free where the buyers have gotten their financing, inspection, and everything else arranged prior to the offer presentation… or they are just taking a huge risk.”
Add your story to your offer
“Put a letter or tell them your story on the cover of your offer. Some sellers appreciate the buyer and want to know who is going to be living in their home. Especially if the sellers have sentimental value in the home and would rather have a young family buy it instead of a developer who will tear it down. You might at least get a chance at a second offer if you aren’t the leading candidate.”
Your Realtor
“Present your offer in person. Anytime you have an opportunity to be face to face with the sellers in a competing offer situation it helps. It helps because you are not the front running offer but they like you. They might go with you or at least give you a second chance that they may not have considered if you were just another piece of paper. So present in person.”
“Buyers just be patient. Don’t expect to get the first home you go after especially if you are looking for the same type of property as everyone else. It is a seller’s market right now so be prepared to put out a couple offers.”
If you have any questions about selling your home or would like to know more about this crazy market feel free to contact us!