How Sellers Can Attract Multiple Offers on Their Homes
Depending on where you live and the temperature of the market in your area, attracting several offers on your home at once might already be easy enough. California’s hot real estate market as of late has seen markets where bidding wars are a regular occurrence. With a squeeze on inventory and high demand, drawing in multiple offers might not require much effort at all.
But in other cases, there are things that sellers can do to position their listings in such a way that the odds of a multiple offer situation are higher. With several different offers to entertain at once, sellers may be able to drive up the price of their home as buyers compete against each other.
As long as the location of your home is highly sought-after and your home has the goods buyers are looking for, you’re in a pretty good position to spark a bidding war on your home when you take the approach.
Price it Appropriately
Before you establish a listing price, consider the market you’re in right now. One tactic that has become quite popular is pricing just slightly under market value to attract buyers. Listing at a seemingly low price can attract multiple offers when the market is hot.
It’s no secret that a perceived discount on a home – or any other type of commodity – will attract buyers, and that’s exactly what you want as a seller if you’re looking to spark a bidding war. People will get excited about the possibility of landing a great deal on a home, which is precisely what will draw them to your listing.
However, setting a low price in a softer market might not work as well. While it may help you sell quickly, you may find it more challenging to get the final price you’re looking for. That’s why it’s so important to gauge the market first before coming up with an appropriate listing price.
Work with your real estate agent to scope out the comparable sales in your area before coming up with a listing price. Use that information to determine a price that accurately reflects the current market, then list your home just slightly under that number. That will surely grab buyers’ attention.
Have Your Home Professionally Staged
Buyers are certainly attracted to a good price on a home, but they’re also drawn to properties that are esthetically pleasing. If you want people to pay a premium for your home, you’re going to have do what you can to make your home as attractive as possible. That’s where professional home staging comes into the picture.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sellers stand to gain a return of $400 for every $100 spent on staging. Not only that, the average professionally-staged home tends to sell for 17% more than a home that has not been staged. Further, the majority of staged properties sell 87% faster than homes that are not staged.
Staging typically involves decluttering, depersonalizing, and neutralizing a space. It also involves understanding what buyers in a particular market are looking for in a home, and designing and decorating in such a way that it taps into those desires.
Homes that generate multiple offers tend to be those that look as if they could be featured in a magazine. The goal is to make buyers develop an instant attraction to the property and an emotional attachment to it. You want buyers to fall in love with your home, which will help spur the desire to put in an offer.
Be Flexible With Your Showings
In order to draw in multiple offers, you need to be flexible in terms of showings. Buyers who are on the prowl for a home and are willing to pay top dollar for the right property don’t want to provide 24 hours’ notice before a showing.
Many times buyer agents book a slew of showings for their buyers in one day, often requesting same-day showings. Sometimes showings are booked at the last minute, and you need to be open to that and prepared for it. If a buyer’s agent isn’t able to get into your home today because of your inflexible schedule, you could potentially miss out on a qualified buyer.
In order to increase the odds of getting multiple offers, you need to be very flexible with your showing schedule. Imposing too many restrictions will make it harder for prospective buyers to see your home. Sure, it may be a nuisance to always have your home in show-ready condition and allow complete strangers meander throughout your home at all hours of the day. But if multiple offers are what you’re after, you need to make it as easy as possible for many buyers to see your home.
Give All Buyers a Chance to Visit
It’s not uncommon for sellers to get an offer the day their listings go live. If they’ve got the goods, they’ll likely get a ton of attention and easily attract an offer within hours.
While this might sound great, you probably won’t get multiple offers right out of the gates. Ideally, you’ll want to give as many buyers a chance to see your home in order to generate as much interest as possible. The more eyes on your home, the higher the odds of multiple offers flooding in.
Your listing should be on the market long enough for your targeted pool of buyers to visit and submit their offers. Agents will often set a date and time for offer reviews, which will be clearly stipulated in the listing description. Usually, this will be about a week or so after the listing goes live.
After having had a chance to check out the home, all the buyers who have visited will then be given the opportunity to present their offers, knowing that other buyers are vying for the same property. This strategy creates a sense of excitement and urgency while still allowing buyers enough time to consider their offers.
Hold a Broker Open House
It’s standard practice for sellers to have open houses to allow prospective buyers to visit without having to book a showing. But in addition to these typical open houses, it’s good practice to hold a broker open house to allow local real estate professionals to scope out the home.
The more agents know about your home, the higher the odds of drawing in multiple offers. Many times buyer brokers will have a client in mind that they believe would be a perfect fit for the home. By holding a broker open house, you can spread the word about your listing and get other agents to bring their clients in to see your property.
The Bottom Line
If you’re already in a sizzling market and have the goods, you probably don’t have to try too hard to generate multiple offers. In all other situations, you might need to be strategic in your approach in order to spur a potential bidding war on your home. Follow the above tips – on the advice of your real estate agent – to help generate more interest in your listing and drive in several offers at once for you to choose from.
