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9 Industry Secrets to Getting Your Home Offer Accepted

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Created by Lauren H, WriterAccess talent

Lauren H
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Lauren H. comes to you with a multifaceted skill set that includes being educated at ESS in Dallas, Texas. Lauren has been writing professionally for many years and is heavily involved in assisting digital marketers, business owners, realtors, contractors, and...

So you found the perfect home, and you’re excited—we get it! But having the seller accept that offer might be a little more difficult than you think. Gone are the days of offering less than the asking price and throwing in a bunch of contingencies. It has been a seller’s market for years now, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon. However, if you want to know what the professionals do to get their home offers accepted, then keep reading.

9 Industry Secrets to Getting Your Home Offer Accepted

Here are the tactics top real estate agents use to get their buyers’ offers accepted.

1. Attach a Mortgage Preapproval Letter

We’ll start with the obvious, which is attaching a preapproval letter to your offer. A mortgage preapproval letter shows the seller that your mortgage company has already looked at your creditworthiness and believes you will qualify for a loan up to a certain amount. A seller is more likely to accept an offer from someone with a preapproval letter than one without.

2. Add an Escalation Clause

An escalation clause is a clause included in a contract that allows for the agreed-upon price to be changed. The escalation clause will enable the buyer’s bid to be automatically increased up to a certain amount, up to a pre-determined ceiling price. That means if there is a higher competing offer on a home you’ve already bid on, your offer will automatically increase so you are not outbid. However, if any offer goes above your ceiling price, the escalation will stop.

3. Put Down More Earnest Money

It’s common practice for a buyer to put down one percent of the home price as an earnest money deposit. However, putting down more money will show a seller that you are serious. Offering a two to five percent earnest money deposit will make your offer stand out above the rest.

4. Make a No Contingency Offer

Adding contingencies to your offer will make it less attractive to a seller. Therefore, if you like a house enough, make an offer without any contingencies. If the seller has multiple offers, they are less likely to choose one with contingencies such as having to wait for the buyer’s house to sell or performing a litany of repairs, etc.

5. Waive the Appraisal Contingency

Housing market values have skyrocketed in recent years. So it’s not uncommon for a home appraisal to come in for less than the contracted price of that home. This will usually cause a deal to be canceled because the mortgage company won’t provide financing for that amount. However, if you agree to waive the appraisal contingency, this could keep your contract in place. Waiving the appraisal contingency means you will pay the difference between the value of the home and what you agreed to pay for it if it doesn’t appraise for the contracted amount.

6. Avoid Asking for Seller Concessions

Avoid asking the seller to pay for closing costs, a home warranty, or anything else for that matter. When a seller has a stack of offers in front of them, asking for concessions is a surefire way to lose out.

7. Make a Larger Down Payment

The more money you put down, the better your chances are of getting your offer accepted. Putting more money down shows proof that you are a serious buyer and are in a strong financial position to buy that house.

8. Offer More Than Asking Price

This is another obvious tactic; however, most people don’t realize that you don’t necessarily have to offer a significant amount of money over the asking price to win a bid. Sometimes all it takes is offering just $2,000 – $3,000 more to have your bid accepted.

9. Find Out Why the Seller Is Selling

Money isn’t always the driving factor for someone selling their home. Sometimes the seller might need to move quickly, need a longer period of time to close, or might need to wait for their new construction home to be completed. If you can find out why the seller is selling their home, you can structure your offer to meet their needs.

For example, if the seller needs a quick close and you are able to close quickly, the seller will probably accept your bid even if someone else offered more than the asking price. This is because you are offering something the seller needs more than money.

It’s Time to Submit a Winning Offer!

Don’t lose yet another home to someone else. Use these tried-and-true tactics to finally have your home offer accepted for the home of your dreams.

What’s Next?

Do you need a real estate agent with a winning track record of getting their homebuyers’ offers accepted? Contact ABC Realty today. We have been a respected member of this community for more than 20 years and know exactly what it takes to submit winning offers!

 

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