A MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT ON HOW WE GET DEALS DONE.
A Case Study In Winning the Multi-Offer
The Spring market has been voracious in its appetite for multi-offer bidding wars. Of the fourteen transactions I have been part of the last few months, eight were multi-offer scenarios with prices ranging from $440,000 to $2 million. While the city can be competitive, it pales in comparison to top suburban neighborhoods that may receive as many as twenty offers on a given property.
So, what does it take to secure the winning bid? Sometimes, circumstances are outside your control, competing against a cash buyer, for instance, when you are financing the purchase. Absent this advantage, my advice centers on three key components: speed, intention and certainty.
An example from clients currently under contract after securing the winning bid. Cash buyers, they were competing against others waiving financing contingencies. When the property appeared on an off-market channel, I knew my clients would love it. I forwarded the property to my clients and contacted the listing agent, whom I had worked with before, to schedule a showing. We were the first showing.
After confirming their strong interest, we wrote a compelling offer, submitting it hours after our tour. I then called the agent to make our personal appeal. The agent had other showings scheduled, which the seller wanted to keep, and called for a best-and-final at the end of weekend.
My clients wanted this property, a newer, contemporary condo built by a highly regarded developer, so we fashioned our best-and-final offer to ensure within reason they would secure it, waiving all contingencies outside of attorney review. In the end, a seller wants the best terms possible with a ready, willing and able buyer who will perform. It is the primary role of the seller’s agent to help the seller identify that buyer. Our offer delivered. And it helps that my clients are genuinely kind, endearing people who will soon move into that fabulous home.
I love discussing strategy and the art of leverage in a negotiation and welcome your questions or thoughts any time.
