Today we’re going to talk about multiple offers. Sometimes inside of your real estate career the market can just shift, and within minutes you move into a position where you’ve got multiple offers on a property. One of the most challenging things for agent is that when those multiple offers start happening, many don’t know how to deal with all of those circumstances.
We have previously talked about the six elements of an offer, and you really need to know before you can take those forward to the owner. For example, you need to know:
• The name of the person who’s going to be on the contract
• Solicitor details
• Settlement terms, for example 30, 42, 60 days
• Deposit amount
• The conditions that might be come with the offer, for example pest, building inspection or finance
• Price they want to pay
Most agents only negotiate on the price. But what I know is most critical is that you negotiate on all six terms, because one of those terms could be the number on reason why an offer doesn’t proceed. What is critical when you’re working in a multiple offer scenario, you need to be clear about how you work it and what your process is and you need to be able to explain that to not only your seller but also to the buyer.
What’s frustrating from a buyer’s perspective is thinking that you are going to be purchasing a property and moving forward with that offer process to than be told there are multiple offers on the table.
Our recommendation in this scenario to go back and speak with each individual buyer face-to-face and write down all the details required in order to take an offer forward to the owner. Take forward all of the offers to the owner and get their instructions on what they’d like to do and who they’d like to negotiate with based on the terms of the offer.
Once that is done, set up a meeting with each of the individual buyer and let them know you have now moved into a multiple offer scenario and that this is the way that you work multiple offers. Confirm all of the terms of their offer and that their actual offer price is the most that they’re prepared to pay for the home. Once we’ve got their confirmation, then get them to put an initial on the bottom of that to confirm that this is the most they are prepared to pay for the home.
Different states throughout Australia and also internationally will have different regulations around how to handle this.
Remember, when you’re working with buyers in a multiple offer scenario, they can get a little bit tense, and there’s a good reason for that, because emotionally they’re missing out on purchasing the home.
What I know in working with the owner in a multiple office scenario, it’s important that we don’t get too greedy, and that sometimes there are people that will offer a little less in terms of their asking price but will actually move forward in a position where they’ve got a much more straightforward contract in terms of the other terms that are associated with actually making the offer.
Remember, in multiple offers, when a buyer misses out, they’re you’re next big buyer on something else. So make sure that you’ve got plenty of stock to be able to refer them to once you’ve been able to bring the deal together.