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 Size8,878 sqft
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Home Size2,885 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1999
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Days on Market1
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Lot Size9,100 sqft
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Home Size2,054 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1964
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size2,841 sqft
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Home Size2,303 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built2005
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size43,351 sqft
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Home Size838 sqft
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Beds1 Bed
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Baths1 Bath
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Year Built1972
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size10,921 sqft
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Home Size2,840 sqft
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Beds5 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1969
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size11,993 sqft
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Home Size1,964 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1958
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size10,934 sqft
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Home Size3,855 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built1999
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size
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Home Size2,868 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1963
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size11,640 sqft
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Home Size3,067 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths4 Baths
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Year Built2022
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Days on Market2
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Lot Size10,019 sqft
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Home Size1,848 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1968
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Days on Market3
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Lot Size10,890 sqft
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Home Size2,839 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1981
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Days on Market3
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Lot Size6,099 sqft
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Home Size2,100 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1998
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Days on Market3
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Lot Size
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Home Size1,400 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1986
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Days on Market4
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Lot Size10,032 sqft
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Home Size2,081 sqft
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Beds3 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1991
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Days on Market4
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Lot Size12,197 sqft
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Home Size1,680 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1960
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Days on Market4
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Lot Size10,668 sqft
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Home Size3,347 sqft
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Beds5 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1994
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Days on Market4
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Lot Size5,389 sqft
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Home Size2,109 sqft
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Beds2 Beds
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Baths3 Baths
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Year Built1999
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Days on Market4
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Lot Size10,847 sqft
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Home Size2,902 sqft
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Beds4 Beds
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Baths2 Baths
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Year Built1996
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Days on Market5
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See all Real estate matching your search.
(all data current as of
6/2/2023)
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.