Four tips to help you choose an offer in a multiple-offer situation.
In the current market, it’s very common for shows do you know which offer is better when selling your home? sellers to receive multiple offers, sometimes as many as 30. With so many offers thrown their way, it can be difficult to choose the right one. Here are four tips for how to choose the best offer:
1. Evaluate the price, closing date, and release of contingency dates. The release of contingency dates refers to when a buyer can no longer back out of the contract, which provides confidence that the sale will move forward.
2. Look at their financing. You need to see proof of funds or a pre-approval, including the amount of earnest money they’ll put down and the full amount of the down payment. You also want to know what type of loan or payment they’re using: cash, VA, FHA, or conventional. Those can all influence how they purchase and close on your home.
“Motivation is everything.”
3. Have your agent call the top two or three. After you’ve organized the offers and ranked each one by the criteria above, ask your real estate agent to call the agents of the top two or three offers you’ve chosen. They may find out something about these buyers. For example, one buyer may have a home to sell but didn’t put it on the offer because they didn’t want to make it contingent upon their house selling. If their house is already in escrow, they’ll be homeless soon, so they’ll be fairly motivated. Motivation is everything; find out everything you can about each offer and buyer.
4. Evaluate your preferences. Try to determine which offer/buyer works best for your wants and needs. For example, many offers may come in wanting to close in three weeks, but you may need five or six weeks, or maybe you want to close sooner.
In today’s insane seller’s market, it can be daunting to figure out which offer to choose and which buyer is best for you. If you have any questions about multiple offers or real estate in general, please reach out via phone or email. I would love to be your real estate resource.
