You’ve Got Multiple Offers on Your Home—Now What?

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House to Home Nashville Real Estate Podcast

News & Politics


Our market is crazy right now, and multiple offer situations are becoming more and more common. Sellers are really in the driver’s seat, so you have a great chance to get the price and terms that you want in this market. However, if you receive multiple offers on your home, there are a few things to consider in order to pick the best one: 1. Is the highest offer always best? Price is obviously an important factor to consider, but you need to look at how much money the buyer is bringing to the table. Is the buyer using 100% financing with no money down? Are they an FHA buyer who can offer 3.5% down? Or is the buyer using a conventional loan with 5% or 20% down? Look at those down payments because that will tell you how much buying power the buyers actually have. 2. Will your home appraise for the price being offered?Look at the market around you to see what similar houses have sold for in the last six months. If you choose an offer that is too high and the appraisal comes in low, then the buyer will likely ask you to reduce the sales price to the appraised value. That’s just another reason why it’s not always best to take the higher offer.  “Higher offers may not appraise.” 3. What type of contingencies are in the contract? You want to find a clean offer. Are they asking for a 30-day closing or 60-day attraction? Do they need to sell their home in order to purchase yours? If so, make sure their home is already on the market and find out what the average days on market is for their neighborhood. We just had one prospective buyer who offered a high sales price but since their offer was contingent on the sale of their home, our seller went with a lower offer in order to avoid dealing with that. Once you review all of the offers, you can decide whether you want to go into a multiple offer situation. You can tell all of your prospective buyers to send in their best and final offers by a certain time of day. However, keep in mind that not all buyers will want to be in a bidding war, so you may lose a few offers. If you don’t want to go this route, you can pick one offer and counter. Either way, we can still help you get the highest and best offer for your home. If you have any other questions about selling your home in this crazy market, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!