Multiple Real Estate Offers
If you’ve been trying to buy a home in New Orleans, then you more than likely have come across a situation where you were competing with someone else who wants the same house. How do you make yours the most attractive when there are multiple real estate offers?
There are several things that contribute to a seller’s decision about which offer to accept. Here are some of the key things that can make your offer look better than the others.
Price
Price is the most obvious factor for a seller. If you want a home in a high demand area, low balling to “see what they say” can mean you just get outright rejected in favor of an offer that is more in line with the market. Have your agent look at comparable sales in the neighborhood and make a strong initial offer.
Terms
What is your financing contingency? VA and FHA financing are not as attractive to a seller as conventional loans or (obviously) cash. If your only options are FHA or VA loans, know that you may be edged out more than once before you successfully purchase a home.
Closing date
This one can work two ways. Offer to close as quickly as possible, but be prepared to negotiate a later closing date if the seller needs more time to pack and move.
Closing cost assistance
I’ve seen almost identical offers presented to sellers, with the only difference being closing cost assistance to the buyers and every single time, the offer without these requests is the one that wins. Consider delaying your home purchase by a few months in order to save more cash to cover your own closing costs.
Home warranty
While it’s a little thing, the cost of a home warranty, which runs from $500-$1,000 depending on the size of the house, can be a deciding factor for a seller when they look at their bottom line.
Inspections
I don’t ever recommend that anyone purchase a home without doing inspections. You need to know what you are buying and what immediate repairs may be needed to the property. That said, there are buyers out there making offers with no inspection period. If you run up against this, I’d have to say that you are better off finding the next home that you can properly inspect. Remember, your inspections are to uncover conditions you did not know existed when you made an offer, not a chance to try to squeeze every last repair penny out of the seller. If there were multiple offers, you may just cause them to refuse to do any repairs, knowing that they can sell the house again to someone else.
Need some help crafting the right offer on the right house? Call Crescent City Living at 504-327-5303 and we’ll be happy to help.
