Housing Market Bidding Wars

Bidding wars are a seller’s dream

Roseville, Calif.- When you mark your home for sale in seller’s market you feel like you have all the control.  It is easy to become over confident and one of the most common seller negotiation tactics which can backfire is mishandling multiple offers.

Bidding wars are a seller’s dream and I have never had a client who was unhappy to get competing offers.  There is nothing wrong with encouraging competition among buyers in order to get the best deal.   But making counter offers to multiple buyers can go wrong if not done well. 

When you respond to multiple offers by sending out a counter offer, buyers may assume the worst and the best offer may not respond.  Clearly explaining to buyers how offers are being handled will help and giving them a reasonable time to respond without too much time is important.  Buyers don’t like being in a multiple offer situation and when they respond to one they do not want to wait days for a decision.  This is especially true if they have other homes they are considering.

Another common issue with the handling of multiple offers is when one of the offers is much stronger than the others.  Insisting all buyers come back with their highest and best bid may result in no response from the strong buyer and you having to select from the lower offers.

When selling in a hot market, proceed with caution before ramping up the competition and listen to your Realtor.  He or she has experience dealing with multiple offers and their advice can help you get the best deal.

Julie Jalone

If you or someone you know is considering buying, please feel free to contact me MagnumOne Realty office in Roseville at (916) 276-6883 and email at [email protected].

We specialize serving the needs of buyers and sellers of homes in the Roseville and Sacramento area including Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Sutter and Yuba counties.

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