3 Tactics For Buyers To Strengthen Their Offer

Competition in the real estate marketplace is still steep this season. There are only so many homes on the market that many buyers are all competing for. According to a recent report from Realtor.com, many buyers have shared some common tactics that are making their offers stand out aside from a higher dollar figure. Here is a closer look:

Increase earnest deposit

If you have two offers that are offering similar money and terms but one is putting more earnest money down, chances are that they will be the more attractive offer in a seller’s eyes. The more money a buyer puts down, the more skin in the game so to speak they have. At a certain point of a sales transaction, buyers become more bound to the deal and cannot back out without penalty or loss of earnest money. This makes a buyer’s offer more solid to choose.

Offer a leaseback

Just like most buyers face the problem of finding a suitable home, sellers are experiencing the same once they lock in a buyer and begin looking. Buyers can help ease the transaction by offering a leaseback for perhaps 60-90 days at no charge to allow them some time to locate their next home. This can be ideal as it reduces the pressure for them to consider temporary housing should they not lock down their next home in time. 

Add in escalation clause

This is a crafty contract addendum that you can use when a bidding war is probable. It basically says it will increase the buyer’s amount by a certain amount over the highest bidder should there be another one. It can be tricky as it sends a message to a seller that they are willing to pay more yet if they are in a competitive bidding scenario then they won’t lose out if their first amount was lower than the maximum they would be willing to pay to secure the home.