COVID has resulted in many unexpected events, one being the real estate market. Surprisingly, many of our buyers found themselves in multiple offer situations or found their dream home on the market yet they still had something to sell. How did we help our buyers get their dream home? Read on to find out…
There are few things you can do when you find yourself in a bidding war. First, keep your head straight and do not bid with your emotions or panic buy. There will always be another home.
1. Talk to your bank or mortgage broker right away.
Make sure you are pre-approved prior to shopping for a home. Find out if having a home appraised prior to writing an offer is a possibility. This is usually possible. When you see the home you want, call the bank right away. The bank will need a copy of the MLS sheet and may need a few other documents that your realtor can easily provide the bank for you. The bank needs a bit of lead time to make the appraisal happen in a timely manner. Have your broker and realtor follow up on the appraisal and to make sure everything is on track. An appraisal in advance will show the seller that you are serious.
2. Remove all the contingencies you can.
Do your due diligence in advance. Get pre-approved, pre-appraised and pre-inspected. Call the municipality to make inquiries about the property and review the Property Disclosure Statement and Title prior to offer date. Make any inquiries about insurance, legal, disclosures or property restriction etc… prior to offer date. Waiving contingencies will give the seller every confidence that your offer will go through.
If you are unable to waive some of the contingencies, you can tighten up the subject removal time.
3. Present your deposit with the offer.
Make arrangements to present your offer with the deposit. Nothing says firm deal and sold like a bank deposit. If you waive your contingencies and present a deposit, the home is sold upon presentation of the deposit. If another buyer presents an offer close to yours but without a deposit, the seller takes a gamble while they wait for the other buyer to go and get their deposit. The typical deposit amount is 5 percent but you can give a little bit more to show that you want to be taken seriously.
4. Make it Your Best
When you are bidding against one or more offers, you will not always have an opportunity to negotiate or counter so go in with your best offer. You need to shine. Know in advance what you consider your best offer and rule with your head not with your heart. Listen to the advice of your realtor and use comparable sales to base your offer on knowledge and the current market. There are a few other tricks we have up our sleeve with respect to dates, terms and dollars. Call us to learn more!
5. Get Personal
If this is truly the home for you and yours, let the seller know why. Chances are the sellers bought this home for the same reasons why. Many sellers have owned their homes for many years and raised their families there. There is a sentimental and emotional component to their investment. Connecting with the seller will make you more relatable. You don’t want to appear desperate. You want the seller to feel that you are the best choice and neighbour for their current neighbours.
We have found a few situations of late where we were able to secure a home quickly for our buyers using a subject to sale. We were able to use our marketing strategy to quickly sell their home within 1-2 weeks.