BY Erik J. Martin
How to make an offer the seller can’t refuse
It’s a home shopper’s worst fear: being outmaneuvered by a rival buyer.
Few things are more frustrating than making an offer on your dream home, only to have a savvier buyer snatch it out from under you.
But there are strategies you can use to improve your odds in a bidding war.
One involves an all-cash transaction. Another suggests writing a letter to the home seller. The third calls for waiving a real estate contingency.
But make sure you get pre-approved before doing any of these things. Bidding strategies are no good unless you — and the seller — know you can really afford the house.
Get pre-approved before you make an offer on a house (Dec 11th, 2019)
3 strategies to beat the buyer competition
A brand new study by Redfin revealed three key tactics for winning a bidding war and beating out another home buyer:
- Offer all cash — This strategy was found to improve a competitive offer’s chance of success by 206%. That’s up from 97% measured in 2017
- Write a personal letter to the seller — Doing so can improve your likelihood of success by 59%. That’s up from 52% in 2017
- Wave a financing contingency — This tactic can improve your odds by 20%. But that’s actually down from 58% in 2017
Two other strategies — conducting a pre-inspection and waiving the inspection contingency — were found to not really improve a competitive offer.
Come with these strategies and a low mortgage rate in hand, and you’re set to make a winning offer on your dream home.
Find a low mortgage rate today (Dec 11th, 2019)