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Picking
the Best Offer
In many of today's strong real estate
markets, home sellers can expect to receive multiple offers for their home.
Multiple offers are a classic example of economic realities because they appear
when the supply of homes for sale is limited and the demand for good-condition
homes is strong. Sellers love multiple offers because they push up home prices
and create an opportunity to spark a bidding war. Knowing how to respond to
multiple offers can help you get the best price and terms for the sale of your
home.
How can I make sure my home will
attract multiple offers?
Hit the market at the right price and, assuming your home is in good
condition, multiple offers should come in. "Sellers see home prices are
going higher, so they want to go a little higher. Sometimes it works and
sometimes it doesn't. You can end up having to wait for the market to catch up
with you.
Make sure your listing agreement
states that your agent will put your home in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
within 24 hours. Some agents will hold a home off the MLS for a day or two in
hopes of selling it themselves or in-house. Putting the home in the MLS as soon
as possible is in the seller's best interest because the home then will be
exposed to a much larger number of potential buyers.
Do I have to accept
the offer with the highest price?
No. If you prefer a lower-priced offer,
perhaps with a better qualified buyer or more attractive terms, you can accept
that offer instead. Or you can give counteroffers to one or more of the buyers.
Caution: If you reject a full-priced offer, you may owe your agent a full
commission even if you don't sell your home.
My agent says I should receive all
my offers by fax, rather than having the buyers' agents present the offers. Is
that okay?
Some agents recommend the fax-only option. Very few agents working
with buyers present offers directly to sellers anymore. Years ago, everyone would meet and the agents would tell all
about their buyers, then everyone would wait while the seller made a
decision. If there are multiple offers, the fax-only practice is a
time-saver for you and the agents.
One of the buyer's agents is from
the same brokerage company as my agent. Should I give extra consideration to
this "in-house" offer?
No. All offers should be evaluated equally based on the net price and
terms.
Can I counter more than one offer?
Yes. Buy I wouldn't recommend it unless you clearly state in your
counter offers that the counter offer isn't accepted until it is subsequently
signed by you.
Can I back out of my escrow with a buyer and accept a new higher offer from
another buyer that my agent just received?
Trying to back out of an escrow is extremely unwise because an
accepted purchase offer is a legal contract and the buyer can take action to
enforce it. Legally, once you have signed and agreed to the offer with a buyer, you can't get out of it. Your only hope would be that the buyer does an
inspection and makes a bunch of unreasonable requests. You can then flatly refuse everything and
hope the buyer walks away. However, there are loads of things to consider
before making such a risky move. The "higher buyer" may not be
capable of purchasing. The old saying: One in the hand is better than two
in the bush, often applies.
My home has been on the market for
four weeks, but I haven't received any offers. Is this my agent's
fault?
Not if you ignored your agent's advice about pricing your home or making
any repairs. If that's the case, it's not really reasonable to blame the agent for the dearth of
offers. Ask you agent for a list of all the sold properties that have sold
during your listing period that are within 10% up and down of your sales price.
After a careful look at what's happened, it should be evident where the problem
is.
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