How buyers can beat multiple offers

Question: Dear Kari, My husband and I are trying to buy our first home in California, but we keep getting beat out by other buyers. Can you please offer us some well-founded advice to help us get a home? Answer: I am sorry for your well-deserved frustration, and many other home buyers are experiencing the same predicament: the old supply and demand, with more home buyers than home sellers. Two or more offers on the same home is a seller's dream and a buyer's nightmare! Interesting to know, sellers do not always select the winning offer based solely on the best price, because their emotions are flying high with a number of other important factors to consider. Let's look at some insider, key elements that can help home buyers write a phenomenal winning offer: · Hire an experienced real estate agent you trust. She or he will be your advocate from the beginning to the end of the home-buying process, providing information to help obtain your best decisions and goals. · Have your Realtor reach out to the seller's agent and find out what is important to the sellers, such as keeping the dining room chandelier or the sheds stay with the home. · Make your highest offer immediately, because you might not get a second chance. Sellers only know what is in writing on the purchase contract, not what you might verbally come up to. · Pump up your financing qualifications, pass on the normal lender pre-approval. This is what most buyers will have. Exceed expectations by becoming fully lender underwritten. The is the best type of lender approval, as it means the buyers are fully approved for their loan amount and just need to locate a home to buy. This also means there is no need for a loan contingency. The only thing better is all cash. · Add an "as-is" clause stating you will buy the home in its current condition and be clear they will not make any repairs, however, subject to your satisfactions of the outcome of home inspections. This tells the sellers you will not be a nitpicker. · Add a purchase price escalation clause addendum with your offer, stating you will automatically increase your offer by a certain amount over the highest written bona fide bid. · Use an appraisal gap clause, agreeing that the buyer will cover (with additional cash) any gap between the agreed-upon sale price and the appraised value outcome. I always recommend a dollar cap. · Provide proof of funds, copies off all bank statements, and make sure to white out all account numbers. · Use the seller's preferred title company; the costs are fairly the same. · Pay your own closing costs and for the home warranty. · If there are any reports, inspections or disclosures attached to the home in mls advertising, read them, approve and sign, and have a copy of these accompany your offer. · Increase your earnest money deposit and down payment money; it stays in the third-party escrow account and all the amounts go toward your purchase. Might as well ante up early to look better. · Don't ask for any of the seller's items, such as refrigerator or outdoor fountains, unless stated otherwise. · Closing and date of possession: Accommodate the sellers' choice, typically a fast 20-day close of sale, along with a free rent back timeframe is most popular. This will make the seller feel more at ease about working with your offer. · Write a short love letter with pictures, telling the sellers how much you love their home. · Sweeten the deal and offer to pay some or all of the seller's closing costs to appeal to the seller's bottom line. · Eliminate contingencies if possible and/or shorten them to seven days or sooner. The fewer and shorter the contingencies, the more certainty your offer holds. · Expiration of offer: Be wise to tighten up the timeframe, otherwise the default is three days and this will allow the sellers to use your offer to shop for more. The seller's agent will go over each offer separately, accounting for the net price of each one and in addition, which offers have the highest chance of closing along with providing the seller's best option. The challenge is to put your best foot forward, along with accommodating the sellers, enticing them to accept your offer, because all you want is to move into their home. We can't always win the home sale, but in using some or all the above elements, you can certainly tip your offer in your direction. I hope the information was helpful.