Writing Multiple Offers

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Hi Joan: In a hot market like yours, I will be promoting this as long as I am on top of withdrawing other offers once one is received.

Circumstances can require critical actions albeit the risks.

Thankfully I haven't had to do this lately, working with more sellers than buyer right now.  I remember being one of 35 offers back in the day and havin my buyer write personal letters to the seller.  Amazing time back then!

Every situation is different.  There are always at least two sides to every scenario, sometimes more.  I agree with Erick on this one.  It really depends on the buyer you are representing. 

I have yet to say I've writtien multiple offers. One at a time per property. Have done back-ups. I have the buyers cma's ready along with the city and county tax appraisals. We look at the sellers disclosure and any other information i can get from a past listing. Sometimes a former disclosure comes in handy when a current sale is an estate sale. Usually one offer at a time per property. 

Thomas McCombs  so true. unless an accepted contact  has proof of being delivered, it is not valid.

mike kelly also has a good point. multiple offers has a real downside. Will a seller carry thru .likely not. but if you dont advise your client of the POSSIBLE risk, you in fact are at risk. ALL THINGS MUST BE PROVEN...but that may be a lower bar than you think. sound like time for a post.

All the time. Because so much of what we have here are tract homes, there are often several that the buyers like, for different prices. So we write up offers on all of them and see what we get back. 

Yes! The record is three offers.  There was a counter on each one...which helped my buyers make up their minds about which one they liked best!

Joan - I hate to admit it, but back in 2010 I absolutely wrote multiple offers at one time for a buyer client. They only qualified for homes less than $100k, and had missed out on home after home previously. Either they were out-bid with other buyers, or by the time we made an offer (could be same day home was listed), the home already had an accepted offer in it from another buyer. Writing multiple offers on several homes was the only way these buyers finally ended up with a home to buy. I know it was not the best situation, but the only one that seemed to work for my buyers at the time. This was the only time I have ever written multiple offers for a client.

The answers to this question were an eye opener.  I never thought there would be a situation where making multiple offers at the same time would be justified, but I can see how in a superheated market this would become the norm even though it is not ethical.

I have considered writing offers on two different houses for an out-of-town client who was only in town for one weekend and had to purchase a house before he left. In the end, we didn't go that route because of the risks involved.

In our area, certain agents make a practice of writing multiple offers for their buyer clients, throwing a bunch of offers out there to see which one "sticks". As a listing agent, I would advise the seller that accepting an offer from an agent who has a reputation for doing this is much more risky than accepting one from a buyer's agent who is only writing on one property at a time for their client.

Different markets and different clients call for different approaches, but writing multiple offers seems like risky business to me. And to comment #118, how can a seller take an offer to purchase seriously when it is not signed by the person making the offer?

So timely is this post!  I have always been against this since I would hate to be the listing agent accepting an offer from someone with various offer out there.  However our ridiculously  (not a bad thing) hot market, has meant my client has 'lost' over 10 homes already and they are running out of time. 

Yes desperate market has called for "unusual tactics".  In the end trying to serve clients best we can!

Many years ago, I stayed late at the office and talked to another realtor who stayed late. He told me that he is working with a large investors and writes about 10 offers per day finding properties that fits their criteria and sending out low ball offers. The arrangement worked for him and his clients well. Over the years I had tons of emails to do the same for ''motivated qualified'' investors and my every short sale listings usually have 2-3 offers like that.

We have a hot market here in the Raleigh Triangle as well. I hate to do it, advise against it, and try not to! It tends to make me uncomfortable. However,  there are some clients that insist or a situation it works in! It definitely depends. I don't think it's unethical as long as the client FULLY understands the risk! 

It is deceitful and unethical, period!  #138 - your client may fully understand the risks, but it isn't your client (buyer) who is being deceived.  It is the seller who is being deceived.  I once heard the definition of charcter is ' do you act according to your principles, or do you act according to what will  be of benefit to you?'

Dolores Mauriello, I would NEVER advise my sellers to sign an offer that was not signed by the buyer unless the seller was the submitting party. I'm not entirely sure I would present it because I believe if it is not signed then it is not really an offer (that's a question for my employing broker). I would definitely tell the seller about it but if they had interest I would tell the buyer agent to have their client sign if they want to be considered.

With short sales (2006-2011) I did it all day long as a required necessity; it was in my clients' best interest. But since 2011...

With traditional re-sales, I'm less likely to do so,  as I don't want a reputation for "being that Realtor". I encounter many of the same agents over and over and I want my reputation to move my clients offer to the top of the pile; not the circular file.

So, I'd say rarely, but I'm not opposed completely as there are special cases or circumstances I recognize that require this strategy...still living in the real world here.