Every homebuyer’s biggest concern is winning a bidding war when they finally find their dream home. And every home in today’s market is part of a bidding war. How in the world will your offer be the best offer so the seller chooses yours over the others.
How things have changed over the years
I’ve been a licensed Realtor since 1987. Things have certainly changed since then. It used to be, you’d look through the MLS book of homes for sale to find homes you would show your buyers. Heaven forbid if you let those buyers take your book and find their own homes. That was forbidden.
Then every day, new hot sheets would come out of new homes on the market. Granted, this was before we had computers. You would go look at a house and maybe make an offer. I don’t ever remember being up against another offer.
Showing houses in 2021
Today, buyers find houses they want to see sometimes before I even see them. After we’ve looked at between 10-15 houses right off the bat, we narrow it down to what they are really looking for. After looking at a number of houses, buyers know what they like, what they don’t like, and what they want to see more of.
My typical buyer is set up on an automatic search through our local Multiple Listing Service and receives new listings as soon as they are entered into the system. With each buyer, there is always the best time of the day for them to look at homes.
So every day, I plan my schedule around my buyer’s best time of day. We typically look at one house a day, maybe two. Then they have to decide 3 things:
- do we like it enough to make an offer?
- how much over asking price will we offer?
- what other options will we offer to be the winning offer?
Winning a bidding war when making the offer
There are so many options anymore when making an offer. It’s no longer about price and the perfect closing date for the seller. And it’s definitely not about writing a Dear Mr. Seller letter.
What begins with feelings – ends up with paperwork.
Winning a bidding war has a lot to do with the Realtor you choose. As your Realtor, I want to know:
- what price will you offer?
- how much earnest deposit will you offer?
- what’s your preferred closing date?
- what is your escalatory price?
- how much over any other offer will you offer in the escalatory addendum?
- will you offer an appraisal addendum and if so, how much are you willing to pay should the house not appraise?
- will you sign the In Its Present Condition Addendum and are you willing to check box 2? I won’t let you check box 3!!!
Once we get past the price, earnest deposit and preferred closing date, the hard pieces of the puzzle come into play. And honestly, each piece builds on your past experience in writing offers.
Writing a winning offer
Writing an offer is tricky. It helps to know what other offers you’re up against and whether any of them are all cash. That’s not readily accessible information though. And very honestly, I’ve had sellers accept a higher-priced offer than an all-cash offer. So that technique doesn’t always work either.
You also need to know how offers on the home are going to be addressed. Will they:
- be presented as they come in
- collected for a few days or
- do they have a specific time the agent and sellers will be reviewing all offers?
With every home for sale, the whole scenario changes. You have different sellers, a different agent and a different offer rules.
But once you try one thing and it doesn’t work, the next offer you write will be stronger than the last one. You’ll take more chances and more risks the more offers you write.
Just remember, persistence pays off. And eventually, you’ll pull out all the guns and get your offer accepted. Hang in there.
In conclusion
If you’re looking for a great Realtor who has a good track record of winning the offer and has more persistence than you do, call or text me at (913) 515-3250 or contact me here to set up an appointment for a buyer consultation.
Be sure to check out today’s new listings in Overland Park below. Contact me if there is anything you’d like to see.
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Lot Size9,148 sqft
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Home Size768 sqft
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Beds2 Beds
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Baths1 Bath
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Year Built1949
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size13,504 sqft
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Home Size2,281 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1981
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Days on Market3
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Lot Size1,307 sqft
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Home Size1,764 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built2003
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Days on Market5
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Lot Size3,485 sqft
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Home Size1,987 sqft
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Beds2 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1987
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Days on Market9
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Lot Size10,890 sqft
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Home Size2,650 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built2024
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Days on Market9
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Lot Size13,940 sqft
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Home Size6,471 sqft
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Beds5 Beds
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Baths7 Baths
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Year Built2020
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Days on Market11
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Lot Size8,712 sqft
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Home Size1,697 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1985
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Days on Market12
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Lot Size9,584 sqft
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Home Size1,386 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1959
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Days on Market13
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Lot Size12,197 sqft
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Home Size2,966 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built0
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Days on Market13
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Lot Size10,455 sqft
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Home Size2,837 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built0
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Days on Market13
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Lot Size10,019 sqft
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Home Size2,966 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built0
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Days on Market13
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Lot Size9,584 sqft
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Home Size2,966 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built0
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Days on Market13
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Lot Size9,584 sqft
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Home Size3,037 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built0
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Days on Market13
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Lot Size10,019 sqft
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Home Size2,730 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1979
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Days on Market13
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Lot Size23,087 sqft
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Home Size1,753 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1915
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Days on Market14
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Lot Size23,523 sqft
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Home Size1,522 sqft
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Beds2 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1940
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Days on Market14
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Lot Size10,019 sqft
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Home Size1,891 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1961
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Days on Market14
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Lot Size10,455 sqft
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Home Size1,120 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths1 Bath
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Year Built1952
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Days on Market14
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Lot Size18,296 sqft
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Home Size1,692 sqft
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Beds2 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1936
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Days on Market15
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Lot Size8,712 sqft
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Home Size1,398 sqft
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Beds2 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1925
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Days on Market15
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Lot Size11,762 sqft
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Home Size2,132 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1961
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Days on Market15
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See all Real estate matching your search.
(all data current as of
11/30/2023)
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.