Top agents share what has worked for them in getting their clients homes in a highly competitive market.
Therese Antonelli runs a listing heavy brokerage with more than 40 agents She sees a lot of offers, and here are her top tips for how to get your offer selected:
- Offer appraisal guarantees
- Buyers are giving buyer concessions: like title insurance
- Buyers are passing on home inspections
- Buyers are offering up to five months in free occupancy
“They just start paying the mortgage on the house, while letting the sellers continue to live there for free”.
- EMDs (earnest money deposits) going hard at the time the offer is accepted
“They are usually refunded if something doesn’t pan out, but now we are seeing them becoming the property of the seller at the time the offer is accepted”.
What to Include in your Offer Letter
Rachel Bucci from BHGRE Porchlight Properties is seeing the following in offer letters:
- Capping out inspection issues at $5k
- Offering seller concessions – money they can use to pay their closing or moving costs
“Sellers think they are getting a big bonus, because they don’t have to pay commission to the agent on the concessions they receive. We aren’t talking about huge numbers, instead of adding $5000 over the price, add it as a concession, and it plays to the psychology of the seller, giving the buyer the added benefit”.
“You do have to pay attention to what different state laws allow when offering more to a seller,” warns Jeff Lobb of SparkTank Media.
Take-Aways
Relationships are huge when it comes to which agents listing agents prefer to work with. Make sure you are nurturing your relationships with other agents.
“I won a bid simply because my offer was written well and had all of the right paperwork attached. The other offer was missing things,” said Bucci.
Do not be sloppy. Keep it simple. Be organized. Get it done.
Antonelli prompts agents to add a tag line to their offer stating, “if we are close to the highest bid, please reach out to me if there is something more we can do”.
“I got that phone call. It was a matter of $5,000 more on a half a million-dollar house, and we got it.”
Take care of your buyers by offering escalation clauses in this hot market. “Write your offer for asking price, and then use an escalation clause to offer $1,000 more over highest bid. Don’t just automatically offer $50,000 more,” coaches Antonelli.
“Call the listing agent, and find out what the seller really wants. Write your offer to reflect that,” urges Bucci.
