Winning the bidding War - No Contest! - Debbie Reynolds is offering a contest about hot market strategies and how to win the battle for your buyers. I have a few strategies, but I really like to think outside the box.
Strategy number one, which I did this weekend with a client - We had 10 homes on the list to view last
Saturday, price range was between $300-400K in a Denver suburb. This, like most markets was extremely hot, 3 of the homes went under contract while we were on the way to show them. We were now down to 7 and had to make some decisions. I beleive the average days on market is 4 in this area, and only because several agents are playing the "list on Friday showings start Saturday, all offers need to be in by noon on Monday and one will be selected by 5 PM Tuesday" game. The buyer understood the market as we had ventured out the previous two springs and he did not have any luck. He is a straight shooter and does not like playing the auction game.
We found a house he liked, I called the agent and asked what the seller needed, quick close, rent back etc., I had called the lender to let her know that we were shopping and we would need quick action on her end. I asked the listing agent what time frame the seller needed for a response and she said 24-48 hours. We asked if we were to bring a solid offer would they consider it today, she called back and said the seller would consider a quick response time on a solid offer. (we are in the middle of the transaction so I will not disclose details of the offer) We gave a 3 hour response time and we were under contract in 2.
The offer was clean and met all the sellers needs and we did not ask for any extra inclusions, just a good solid offer with a strong buyer and a very communicative lender. All three are keys to getting the deal done, Just because a seller says they want highest and best by a certain time does not mean they will not look at earlier deadlines.
My out of the box strategy - and this is one In have done for 4 years now, if my buyers are not having any luck I scan the old expired's. I go back as far as our MLS allows (currently 6 and 1/2 years) and I research every home that fits my buyers needs to make sure it truly was expired. I then present the list to my buyers and tell them here is a handful of off market listings that I think you should take a serious look at, if anything appeals to you I will go to that house and present the seller with a proposal to purchase if they still have interest in selling, in that proposal will be a fair market value report, a letter form the buyers explaining why they want to live in this area, and let them know they can sell their house and close in 45 days and rent back for up to 60 days after, giving them 3 and 1/2 months to move out. This is a strategy that takes some time to research and a little cajone's to door knock, but it works and there is no competition and every now and then you also pick up another client.
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