We recently sold our first home, and it was an incredibly emotional and FAST process. We were lucky to be on the selling side in this apparent sellers’ market, for sure! We received 4 offers in the span of a weekend, and we didn’t choose the highest one. Here’s why… and maybe this can help your offer stand out too!
Get the offer in QUICK! We ended up accepting the first offer that came in, but that wasn’t the main reason. We listed on a Friday and had so much interest that we decided to only accept offers until that Sunday afternoon. We had two offers come in on Friday, one on Saturday, and the final one on Sunday right ahead of the deadline. In a sellers’ market, a buyer should get offers in FAST. Unfortunately, there’s no time to waste or it could definitely be too late.
Do not trash talk the house in front of the sellers’ agent. Our agent is a personal friend of my husband and me, so we relied on her more than we have any other agent we’ve used. She maintained the upmost professionalism in the process and would never tell us her personal feelings about any of the potential buyers, but she was noticeably more enthusiastic about certain offers over others. She presented each of them in full and with the most unbiased information, but we knew what some of the potential buyers asked about our home and comments made about the changes they would make to perfect our beloved home. We aren’t dumb, we know that the next owner can do whatever they want to make it their own, but it can come off as offensive when you talk about all of the things you seemingly hate about the most prized possession a person can own.
Consider waiving the appraisal contingency. We listed our home at a higher price than our agent thought it would appraise. We were a tad nervous that we would have an issue come appraisal time and that it may not end up working out. Full disclosure, the offer we accepted did not waive the appraisal, but it would never have been a question if it had. Another thought is to write in an appraisal contingency that offers to pay the difference in cash if the appraisal comes in below the list price. We did have an offer that wrote this in, but we didn’t choose that one because it missed the very best part of the offer we chose…
Never write another offer to buy a home WITHOUT a personal letter. Pictures help! There is no question that the personal letter the buyers wrote was the very reason that we chose their offer. They were not the highest offer, they didn’t offer the most earnest money or even the quickest closing, but they did include a very personal letter. The letter also included a picture of the couple in our home… as a sign of how happy they will be inside their potential new home. It was heartwarming. They told us how they had met, how they made it to Dallas, and about their new baby on the way! They touched on their favorite parts of the house, including our toddler’s room. It was as if we were choosing a couple who would make the same memories in the home that we had made. Between you and me, I cried. It was the easiest and best decision that we’ve made in the selling of our home.
Hopefully these tips from a recent home-seller can help you finally secure the WINNING home buying offer!
