Top 3 Hacks For Home Buyers In A Competitive Market

by Conor J. Green

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! If you are looking to buy a home…I am writing to you! It’s getting a little bit difficult…you could even say it’s getting a little crazy, if I am being honest. There is an overwhelming amount of competition, and that can get you into multiple offer scenarios… How Do You Even Buy A Home These Days? Like I said, it is getting tough…and that is what I’m going to talk about! I’m going to give you my three tips for winning in a bidding war, today. Let’s Get Into It!

1. The Escalation Clause

The Escalation Clause and what I call right now “the bluff.” First, you will want to talk with a professional, but…it is a clause that you can put in your contract that says, “hey listen, I am going to put in this offer of X, but if someone comes in above my offer of X…I will go ahead and raise my offer $1000 above their offer. And I’ll do that up to let’s say Y. If I put an offer for X and you put in an offer for any amount higher than my offer…guess what my offer just became? $1000 higher than whatever your offer was…that is one way where you can try to beat out other offers up to your highest offer point. Now, obviously if you’re putting that in you’re no longer really in a negotiating spot, so you’re really just trying to win the home. So as far as getting a good deal…it’s not really going to help you do that. It is going to help you win the home, show the seller that you’re committed, and excited about buying it up to whatever point it may be at which you will have to bow out. Onto the second part…the bluff…basically, you are competing for the option to buy the home. What a lot of people may do is, unfortunately, they are overbidding on properties just so that they can win the contract. Wait, how can someone overbid on a property…to win a contract? Well, it’s simple…they know it is not going to appraise out. Say, they have their contract at $310,000…they know it is only going to appraise at $300,000…but at that point now, it’s just the buyer and the seller. They are going to work out a deal… whether that means the seller comes down to $300,000 or the seller comes down to $305,000 and the buyer has to bring an extra $5,000 to the table, in cash. They just want to get to that point, and they want to win the deal. It’s really not the most honest thing…it’s not how I like to approach things, but it is how people are doing it right now, so it is information to be aware of.

2. A Friendly Cover Letter and a Friendly Agent

What I mean by this is, A, try to stand out from the other buyers, and show them why you’re buying the house, and what it’s going to mean to you. So, then if I offer $305 and you offer $305, but you’re buying it with your family and this is the perfect house for your kids, and it’s just me and I just write an offer and they don’t even know who I am. Because you’re a little bit more relatable to them or personable, you might be the one that they choose versus me. If we both have a conventional offer and we’re both around the same what’s really the difference? And, then for the ‘Friendly Agent’ part it does make a big difference of who your buyer’s agent is. Because they need to build that rapport with the listing agent and see, are there any terms that the sellers want? How quickly do they want to close? Do they want to short close? Do they want a long close? Do they want a rent back period? Would that be beneficial to them? How long do they expect for an inspection period? What kind of money down would they like? All of these things are ways for you to position your offer to be more appealing, more attractive to the seller. And then for your agent to build rapport with that listing agent, so they know, hey I can work with Conor and I know that he’s going to be someone who’s going to get this deal done. And maybe I’m a little bit more comfortable than working with one of these other agents who just sent over the contract and couldn’t even bother to answer the phone. So a ‘Friendly Agent’ does make a difference.

3. Off Market Properties

This may be a little bit of a cop-out…but off-market properties! The reason I say this is that when possible, it is best to not even be in the bidding war from the start. If you are looking for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home…would you rather be bidding on that home on the market where there are four buyers…orrrr would you rather be bidding on a single…off the market property, with zero buyers other than yourself because no one else knows about it…except you? If it sounds too good to be true it’s not…it really is possible. It is a little bit harder, and your agent will have to do more work on the off-market side…calling around to people, door knocking, sending out mailers, and other things to try and find those off-market properties where you have someone who would be interested in selling…they just don’t have it on the market, yet. That is definitely one great way for you guys to find a property that you really want, without all the competition of today. If you have any questions about those three, or anything in general in terms of the buying process…please go ahead and drop a comment below and I will be sure to answer it. If you have something you would rather not mention in the comments, you can always message me through my website or on Facebook!

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Conor J. Green

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