There are several advantages of selling your home in a bidding war. You will get the highest price, you will get the best terms in the original contract and you will have leverage if the buyer tries to negotiate too much after an inspection.
26 of the homes we have sold this year have been sold with multiple offers. That doesn’t happen by accident. Here are some tips that will make it easier for your home to sell in a bidding war.
Appeal To Emotion Not Logic
To get into a bidding war you need the buyers to act quickly. We need the buyers to fall in love with your home and ask how much over asking price they need to pay. We need to remove anything that will keep a buyer from wanting to make a great offer. In marketing this is called “friction” and friction slows down buyers. After seeing your home a buyer who runs off to Home Depot or Google to find out how much repairs will cost is going to buy based on logic. Logical buyers move slower and always make lower offer. Any make-ready we recommend is based on our experience attracting emotional buyers to our listings.
Stay Away From Big Box Brokers
If the real estate agent you hire works at a big broker they will be pressured to only advertise your home to other agents in the office. That way the big broker makes more money. Of course, that doesn’t help you as the home seller. If your home is only advertised to a limited number of buyers the chances of getting into a bidding war is almost zero. In fact, in this market you are more than likely going to sell your home under market value.
Great Marketing = Great Demand
Getting all the buyers to see your home on Friday or Saturday versus not having any urgency and waiting until the next Wednesday is the difference between your home selling in a bidding war or sitting on the market. When your home comes on the market you want it to be like a movie premiere and we are rolling out the red carpet. Great marketing including architectural photos and descriptions that tell a compelling story get buyers to stop scrolling through listings and select your home as one they want to see as soon as possible. We want buyers to call their Realtor and tell them they need to see your home ASAP!
Hire A Broker With Experience In Bidding Wars
The average real estate agent only sells 1-2 homes per year. That means they aren’t going to have a system to attract a bidding war for your home. In addition, you need a broker who will work hard and not encourage you to just accept the first offer you receive. There’s a saying in real estate that the first offer is the best offer but we don’t find that to be true. It’s our job to squeeze every dollar out of your home. Many agents are afraid of confrontation and when a buyer’s agent tries to get you to sign off on a contract if your agent hasn’t been in that situation before you will leave money on the table.
What About Appraisals?
If you sell your home in a bidding war you will likely be selling for over asking price and you will be worried about the home appraising for the sales price. You probably think if your home doesn’t appraise for the sales price the buyer can terminate the contract. Many home sellers and even many real estate agents think you can’t sell a home above appraised value. That’s not true and we sell homes above appraised value all the time. One of the benefits of selling your home in a bidding war is the seller can get better terms. In many cases we are able to negotiate with the buyer where they waive any appraisal contingency so you don’t have to worry about any appraisal issues.
If you are interested in selling your home in a bidding war to get the best price call us today at 512-791-7473 so we can get to work on a marketing plan for your home.
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