How We Get Our Offers Accepted

Hey buyers J Lately, I have been servicing buyers looking for property up in the Cupertino, Mountain View and Sunnyvale areas. There have been weekends where we look at a total of 12 homes! It is true that there is definitely no shortage in the marketplace when it comes to options. Even though the weather hasn’t been great, open homes are crowded, we are experiencing a multiple offer situations and many homes are selling for over list price. I wanted to address, today, how to get I try to get my buyers offers noticed over the other offers, which are many times higher in price. Now, not all of these options are available to all buyers. Some are too risky and others are just not an option. Here are some sure-fire ways to get noticed:

• I always present the offer in person, if possible. Sometimes listing agents are not open to meeting in person, but most times I can schedule an appointment to present in front of the agent and the seller. It allows them to make a personal connection with me, my client and ultimately remember my client’s offer over the others that are just emailed over. It also shows that I am an agent who they would like to work with – who is proactive and professional.
  
  • Buyer should always write a personal letter (with picture) to the seller and sign it. I believe this important even on a short sale.
    
• Financing – There are many ways in which a buyer can beef up the offer, but financing is a biggie.
  
  • The more money the buyer puts down on the transaction, the stronger the offer will be perceived to be. This is not always a valid perception, but it is a reality that a seller is going to see that the smaller the loan, the easier it will be to get approved
    
  • Submit a pre-APPROVAL (not pre-qualification) letter from a Direct Lender. Broker-letters are not perceived to be as strong as a letter from a Direct Lender. I always request that the loan officer follow up with a phone call after the offer is presented.
    
  • Submit proof of your funds upfront – show the seller liquid (if possible) funds that are ready to go
    
  • If the buyer is not as strong as a 50% down conventional buyer, maybe he/she is an FHA buyer, show his/her commitment to the transaction in other ways. If it’s a short sale, the FHA buyer is likely to stick around longer than a conventional buyer who can easily get acceptance on another property while waiting for this one to be approved. I’ve gotten a few offers accepted this way that were far under the highest monetary offer.
    
• Contingency Periods – be as short as possible without giving too much [it's not a good strategy to go back and ask for an extension after the fact].
  
  • Appraisal – if the buyer is putting a lot of money down on the transaction, I always mention the option of removing the appraisal contingency. With a low loan-to-value, if the home doesn’t appraise at the contract sale price, then the buyer will not be at risk of an adjusted rate, term or cost of the loan.
    
  • Inspection and Disclosure – We usually shorten them from the 17 days that is on our CAR contract. I can get these done within 10 days or sometimes less if need be.
    
  • Financing – Before changing the financing contingency from the 17 day mark, I always check with the buyer’s lender to make sure that we can decrease that amount.
    
• Seller Paid Costs – Take some or all of the burden off of the seller
  
  • Everything is negotiable. The buyer can come in a pay for any multitude of items. If the buyer would like to keep the purchase price low (maybe for tax purposes), the buyer can get creative and offer to pay for:
    
    • The Escrow and Title charges
      
    • Transfer Taxes
      
    • Real Estate Commissions
      
    • Short Sale Negotiation Costs
      
    • Termite Section 1 and Section 2 clearance
      
    • Any other repairs that need to be done before close of escrow
      
• Upfront Documentation – If there are inspections, reports or disclosures, always review and authorize them ahead of time before submitting your offer. Submit the authorized documents and the removal of any applicable contingencies upfront.
  
• Price – In the end, when you are up against a multitude of offers, it comes down to price
  
  • Offer at or above market value in a multiple offer situation. Market value is not the same as list price. Many properties are under listed so as to attract multiple buyers. It is my belief that if a buyer falls for a home and doesn’t get it, it’s far worse than maybe overpaying at the time of purchase by $5,000-10,000 to get the home. In reality, our market is getting better and the values are increasing in certain areas. If I were to do a market analysis to help my client decide on a price to offer, it may be lower than what it will go for because there is demand and that demand will set the real value. Since there is demand on almost every property in our area, we haven’t been able to catch up with it over the last couple of months in regards to the appraised value. Also, when looking at income property or high-end, unique properties – the value is relative based on demand.
    

I hope this helps any buyers who are having trouble getting noticed. There are many cash investors out there in direct competition with first time buyers. The first time buyers with financing may need to give a little bit more to get acceptance on a contract.

Happy Shopping!

Kelsey