Let’s face it, bidding wars in real estate are less than ideal, but in this hot market they are sometimes unavoidable.
Having a winning strategy in place is crucial when you’re in competition for your dream home.
In this video, I’m giving you the top tactics I pass on to my buyer clients to make sure they win!
Watch to the end to hear my best advice on how to ensure you are the WINNER.
If we haven’t met, my name is Katie Crawford and I’m a Realtor that specializes in the Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland County areas. I’ve also been known to win some multiple offer situations so stick around to hear my top tactics on what you need to do to win in a real estate bidding war.
With the low inventory in this market and high buyer demand, there’s a chance you might find yourself in a bidding war, also known as a multiple offer situation, if you’re shopping for a home in the greater Edmonton Area this year.
Tip #1
One of the first things you can do to put yourself in a winning position is to Have Buyer Representation – A good agent knows the product in terms of recent sold properties in the area, current inventory and market trends. They will be able to coach you through the process and give you the strategic advice you will need to land your dream house.
Tip #2
Be Ready to make an offer – In multiples, there’s no time for humming hawing. I recently wrote an offer in my car on the side of the road with my client because of a short seller presentation deadline. Good times. In multiples you only get one kick at the can essentially, and the sellers will pick the strongest offer, so you have to be ready with a pre-approval and willing to put your best foot forward in order to beat the competition.
Tip #3
Be the First one in – In this market you have to be ready to book the showing as soon as the property pops up online. In order to achieve this, I set up all of my clients on a Custom MLS Search portal that sends automatic notifications when new listings are posted. This way, my clients will see new homes before they are even searchable online or on realtor.ca. After that, it’s just a matter of getting into the house as soon as possible. For the most part this isn’t the market where you can be booking showings two days in advance.
Tip #4
Which brings me to my final tip – Be Ready to Construct the Strongest Offer. In multiples, this doesn’t mean coming in at asking price, more on that in a moment. Other than price, how can we make your offer the most appealing? Having the fewest conditions with the shortest condition timeframes, having a high deposit to show the sellers you’re good for the funds, giving the sellers their desired closing date and letting them know that you’re flexible in that regard and by excluding additional clauses for things like cleaning.
Ultimately, in a bidding war you are offering blind. There’s no way to know what the other parties will be offering and most of the time these properties are being sold for well over list price. So, what I say to my clients is that they have to do a gut check with themselves. They have to ask themselves what is the dollar amount that they are comfortable paying, where if they lost the house to another party that paid even $1000 more they would be ok with it. Hard question.
There are more components that go into winning in multiples than just these points that I’ve made that rest upon the shoulders of your Realtor. So make sure you find one that knows how to navigate these situations.
Now that you know how to win bidding war, you’re probably wondering what happens once you get the house. Check out my next video, “We Got the House, Now What?” to find some answers.
If you’re interested in buying a home in Greater Edmonton Area, let’s chat! Contact me for a buyer consultation today. I’d love to hear about your top reasons for moving here, and as always, don’t forget to leave a comment below.
