In a hot real estate market like we currently have in Windsor & Essex County, buyers often find themselves competing in multiple offers for that dream home! What is a buyer to do? How do they put their best foot forward to give themselves the absolute best chance of success against the other competing offers?
We often tell our buyers that they have 4 key points in an offer with which they can work to make their offer stand out. Any of which can be the determining factor between a win or a loss.
The first and often most important factor when a buyer is in multiple offers is the offer price. It’s always a very difficult decision for buyers. In years past, if a buyers dream home came up and multiple offers came in, you would typically see 1 or 2 other offers. You’d see asking prices reach $100-$1000 above asking. But in today’s market, regardless of the homes location whether it be LaSalle, Amherstburg, Tecumseh, Lakeshore or every part of Windsor, we’re often seeing 3-10 competing offers with offer prices rising as high as 5, 10, 15, 20 and we’ve seen as high as $35,000 over asking price this last month. We typically advise our clients to write the price that they would feel comfortable losing with if their offer wasn’t chosen.
The second key point with which a buyer can improve an offer is the closing date. The closing date is the date the buyer would take possession of the home. Depending on what the sellers situation it could be very advantages to leave the closing date completely blank! That may be a very attractive bonus to the sellers. They may be downsizing, building a new home or moving to an apartment. With a blank closing date, your offer would look that much more appealing.
Next we have the chattels. Chattels are things in the home a buyer would like included in the offer. One of the more popular examples would be appliances, pieces of furniture, decorative art etc… in a multiple offer situation our recommendation would always be to leave any items not included in the listing out of the offer. That washer and dryer you’d like to include could be the deciding factor between the winning and losing offers.
Last but not least we have the conditions included with the offer. Typical offer conditions include financing, home inspection and insurance. We often see a condition of final walk through as well. When in multiple offers the LEAST amount of conditions the stronger the offer. However, if a buyer requires a mortgage, we always strongly recommend including the financing condition. The Dan Gemus Team will ALWAYS recommend keeping the home inspection condition to best protect our buyers. There are times when a buyer will choose to do an inspection prior to the presentation of the offers. If that is an option and the buyer is happy with the results, they choose at that point to remove the condition of inspection from the offer.
There you have it! The 4 key points a buyer can control when competing in multiple offers! Remember to ask your Realtor for their advice. Every situation is unique. The homes price range, condition and location can have an effect on the outcome. Buying a home in Windsor may not be the same as buying a home in LaSalle or buying a home in Amherstburg. And the same goes for anyone looking to sell a home in Windsor or selling a home in LaSalle or anywhere else in the County. Location is everything! Most of all, your Realtor will make sure you don’t overpay for your dream home.
