Handling Offers
Selecting the Best Offer
Do sellers have to disclose the terms of other offers?
No Offers, No Interest
Selecting the Best Offer
In stronger real estate markets, home sellers often receive multiple offers for their property. Multiple offers can benefit a seller by pushing up the purchase price and creating an opportunity for a bidding war. Understanding how to review and respond to multiple offers can help you get the best price and terms for your home.
Attracting Multiple Offers Your home will have the best chance of attracting multiple offers if you do the following; price your property correctly for the marketplace, make sure that your home is in good condition and ready to show, and have your listing agent place your property in the Multiple Listing Service immediately. Putting your home in the MLS will expose it to a greater number of potential buyers.
Offers By Price Review each offer carefully; consider not only the price but also the terms of the offer and the buyer's qualifications. You do not need to accept the offer with the highest price; in some cases a lower priced offer may be more appealing. Remember that you can give counter offers to one or more of the buyers.
Make sure that you do not accidentally accept more than one offer. When making counter offers, it is important to remember that the counter is not accepted until the buyer signs it and you then subsequently accept it.
Presentation Of Offers It is customary to receive offers via fax. While this may be a time saver, you can meet with your listing agent or have the buyer?s agent present the offer. On occasion, having the offer presented in person may give you a clearer picture of the buyer?s qualifications and better understanding of the terms of the offer. It is also common to receive 'in-house' offers, that is offers coming from a buyers agent that is with the same brokerage company as your listing agent. These offers should be evaluated equally based on the price and terms.
Backing Out Of A Contract Backing out of a real estate contract is extremely unwise because an accepted purchase offer is a legal contract and the buyer can take action to enforce it. If you receive a higher priced or more appealing offer after accepting a contract, you can accept the new offer as a back up. Then if the buyer on the first contract finds unacceptable inspection items or cannot meet financing terms, you can accept the higher offer.
Do sellers have to disclose the terms of other offers?
Sellers are not legally obligated to disclose the terms of other offers to prospective buyers.
No Offers, No Interest
If your home has been on the market for a period of time and you have not received any interest or offers, review the following:
- How did you price your home?
- Did you make necessary repairs?
- Is your home listed in the MLS?
- How is your home being marketed?
You should never sign a listing contract with a term of more than 3 months.
If your home isn't seeing any action then sit down and have a frank discussion with your listing agent and take corrective action. As a last resort, you can ask your agent's sales manager to assist you or resolve any complaints.